Cursed Legacies
by LadyMisanthrope
Summary: In the Stark Tower, a mortal offers Loki a chance to tell his side of the story behind the Battle of New York. Meanwhile in Siberia, a new threat is emerging, an ancient enemy is reviving. It is time for everyone to discover the mysteries of Tunguska.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thank you very much for reading my story! I am happy with the number of hits and follows, but generally, I have no idea what people think about how this story is going because I am not getting many reviews. So, please leave a review if it isn't too much trouble for you. Like every aspiring writer, I need feedback. (03.04.2014)**

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_"I don't want to be a strong hero who can save society. I just want to save myself."_

_Gao Xingjian_

**BOOK ONE: A MENTAL CONNECTION**

_**Loki's POV**_

Everything was a blur. I had thought I couldn't be broken by any kind of physical pain, since I had experienced beyond that, but I had never been so wrong. I was broken. My whole body was shaking in shock; I was cold, hungry, exhausted and hurt. I was naked and hanged to the ceiling upside down. My blood was all over the place. But none of them disturbed me, as a matter of fact. Thanos had managed to take away the most precious things I had: My pride and my sanity. The only good thing about pain was that it distracted me, so that I wasn't able to think about my shame for more than five seconds. Before he started, I had told him I wasn't even going to moan, but the next thing I remembered was crying and begging him to stop. I had never been humiliated like this before in a thousand years.

"Do you want it to stop, Loki? Do you want the pain to stop?" he asked, sticking his fingers into an open wound on my chest.

"Yes!" I yelled. My voice cracked, my eyes were filled with tears.

"What would you do to put an end to your suffering?"

"Anything!"

"Will you do what I asked for?"

"I will! I will do anything, just stop it!"

Thanos grinned.

_**Kate's POV**_

The disturbingly sharp tone of the alarm clock woke me up at 8.00 AM as usual. I hated waking up this early, and any time before 02.00 PM was early for me. Unfortunately, my dad was determined to regulate my biological clock. I used to think I hated him for being an irresponsible, unstable, drunk playboy; but an obsessive, overprotective Tony Stark with a guilty conscience was far worse than one could ever imagine. And that Tony Stark would soon start knocking on the door, unless I went down to join him and Pepper for breakfast. So I got up from the bed and went to the bathroom. Dad had decided to give the penthouse of the Stark Tower to me. After all, he was the one who had given our address in Malibu to the press and caused some crazy terrorists to destroy our house and he had to make up for his own stupidity. I wasn't complaining, though. I had even my own private bathroom and kitchen here.

He heard my steps while I was going down. "Good morning, Kitty," he said.

"Good morning, love birds."

Pepper and Dad were cooking pancakes. In fact, Pepper was cooking, Dad was just standing beside her.

"Do you need help, Mrs. Stark?" I asked. I loved calling her as Mrs. Stark since they had married a couple of months ago. I never considered her as a step-mother. She was more like a friend to me. Actually, she was one of the few people who didn't get on my nerves.

She giggled. "Thanks Kate, they are almost done. And when will you start calling me Pepper again?"

I shrugged. "I like the way Mrs. Stark sounds. Let me enjoy it."

"I definitely agree with her, honey," Dad said and kissed her.

I took off three plates from the cupboard and placed them on the dining table. Dad brought the forks and knives. The butter and jam were already on the table, so we started eating immediately.

"Any news from the last publisher you contacted?" Dad asked.

"Yep. Another refusal. That makes five."

"Don't give up, Kitty. I am sure you will find a publisher who will appreciate your work. You know what, many famous best sellers were actually rejected…"

"Dad, calm down. I am not going to have a mental breakdown just because I can't have my damn novel published. In fact, I was expecting that."

"Why?" Pepper asked. "Give yourself some credit. You really know how to use words. You are talented."

"It is not talent I lack," I replied. "The real problem is that I was born in the 20th century. People don't write anymore, they just paraphrase what already has been told. There is nothing original left to write about."

"Look at the bright side. This is a real challenge for your imagination," Dad said.

"I lack imagination. That's my problem. Anyway, I don't want to talk about it anymore. It depresses me."

They quickly changed the subject. Pepper mentioned some important meeting that was scheduled for today, and Dad said he started to plan a second honeymoon in Venice. I wished I didn't have this damn agoraphobia; maybe I could go somewhere new to get inspired. The Stark Tower wasn't exactly paradise for an artist. I missed the rain, the nature, the fresh air. I even missed the Siberian wilderness, where I traveled with Mom. But I trapped myself in here, not willingly maybe, but it was me.

"Here you go, Kitty," Dad said and handed over an antidepressant pill to me. I snapped out of my thoughts and took the pill. These pills only clouded my mind. I needed an inspiration and it wasn't going to appear at my front door.

"Sir, there is someone at the reception who demands to see you immediately," Jarvis suddenly said.

"Who?" Dad asked.

"He says his name is Thor."

"Thor? What the hell is he doing here? Is he alone? Are there any other Avengers with him?"

"No sir, but there is another man. According to my facial recognition database, he is Mr. Thor's brother, the war criminal Loki."

Dad jumped." What the…?"

Pepper touched his arm. "Tony, calm down. He is here with Thor. I am sure he has an explanation."

"He better have a good one. I am going there now," he said and stormed off.

We started to clean up the table with Pepper. She sighed. She hated all this superhero stuff.

As for me, I was indifferent. I didn't care who came and went. I had a panic room. Who knew, maybe I was wrong for having thought my muse wouldn't appear at the front door.


	2. Chapter 2

I would usually go back to my penthouse after the breakfast, but I wanted to stay that morning for two reasons: First, Pepper looked really anxious about our unexpected guests—and she was right to be anxious, this Loki guy was a cold-blooded murderer who killed at least 100 people before Avengers stopped him—and my presence could help her calm down. Dad disposed of his metal suits after I had been kidnapped by Aldrich Killian, which makes me the only person with a super-human ability in the family. Unlike Dad, I had no interest in becoming a superhero. Mankind could go to hell. Secondly, I had never seen Thor and Loki. I was in California during the Battle of New York and by the time I came here, they were long gone. I wanted to know what was going on now and for goodness' sake, these guys were from a different planet! Of course I wanted to see them with my own eyes, no matter how much I pretended to be uninterested.

I grabbed the newspaper just to have something to focus on. Damn, I hated reading newspapers. Robberies, murders, politicians, celebrities… They all made me want to puke. Pepper was pacing up and down, waiting for Dad. He came back with two tall figures following him. Yes, I was interested, but I wasn't going to show it. I knew these people were royalty, and royal bastards were usually spoiled as hell. Maybe some apathy could teach them a lesson. I remembered a few years ago a young prince from Europe visiting the Stark Expo, and he thought I was going to be starstruck or something. Dad had forced me to greet him. His face was priceless after I shook his hand reluctantly and walked away. So, I buried my head into the newspaper.

"Kate and Pepper, can you join us, please?" Dad asked. He was serious. Damn, this couldn't be good.

I put down the paper and approached them with Pepper.

The blond one, Thor, greeted us respectfully. OK, he wasn't as arrogant as I thought. Loki, on the other hand, didn't even looked at our faces. His eyes were fixated on his cuffed hands.

"Let's have a seat and talk," Dad said.

We all sat on the long, white couches in the room.

"Tony, what is going on?" Pepper asked.

"Tell them," Dad told Thor.

Thor looked troubled. Apparently, after everything Loki had done to him, he still cared about his brother. Whatever it was, he had to be really desperate to bring him back here. I wondered if Odin sentenced Loki to death and Thor decided to save his life. Damn, hiding a criminal could start a war between the planets.

"A few weeks ago, my brother was kidnapped by an enemy named Thanos. We don't know how they managed to penetrate our borders and our dungeon. I ask you to keep Loki here until we find the weakness in our defenses. I know how much harm he brought to you in the past, but he is my brother after all. I can't let him be tortured again," he said.

Phew. At least it was no _Space War I_ cause.

"I think you missed the best part," Dad said, accusingly.

"He has also stolen the Tesseract," Thor admitted. I could see the shame on his face.

"What?" Pepper snapped.

"Right, dear! I entered a wormhole and almost died to save the Earth, and these so-called gods couldn't even keep an eye on a little, blue box."

"We are not gods," Thor corrected him. "It was just a misinterpretation of your ancestors."

Dad rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"And my apologies once again, for we have failed to keep the Tesseract in our possession. I won't rest until we get it back, but I can't be distracted by concerning about my brother's safety in the meantime."

"He seems fine to me," Dad commented.

"We Asgardians heal quickly. He was almost dead when we found him."

Dead? As far as I knew, he was smashed by Bruce—or, the Hulk—and he was still conscious afterwards. What this Thanos freak had done to him had to be_ really _bad.

"What does Thanos want from Loki, anyway?"

"He punished him for his failed attempt to conquer your realm and obtain the Tesseract."

"I am sorry, but what if this is a trick? They could be working together to conquer the Earth again. He might not have been tortured at all," Pepper said. Good point. Why didn't I think of it?

"I understand your concern, and I assure you your realm is under my protection. I can't ask you to trust my brother. I only ask you to trust me." Thor was answering our questions patiently.

"What about my family? If I remember correctly, your brother is a sorcerer, right? Is he now stripped of his powers? What stops him from turning all of us into toads?"

"Magic is not something we can simply take away. He can still use it. But my mother prepared talismans for all of you. They will protect you from his magic."

He handed each of us a silver necklace with a blue pendant. I immediately put mine on. I had no intention to become a toad. I felt a strange current when it contacted with my mom's necklace. This should be what magic felt like. Dad was still suspicious.

"I don't know, Point Break. You see, I have my own responsibilities."

"That's enough, brother," Loki finally spoke. "I don't need mercy from these primates. I would rather go back to _him_."

Primates? Really? He should have known better. I raised my hand, aimed a strong fire blast at him and he fell off the couch. Dum-E went to extinguish him. Dum-E and I were best buddies since Killian left me this unpleasant pyromantic ability. I often set things on fire by accident.

Thor startled. "What have you done to him?" he yelled.

I shrugged.

"Excuse her," Pepper defended me. "She is suffering from PTSD." I rolled my eyes.

"From what?" Thor asked, puzzled.

"An enemy of mine kidnapped her recently and injected her a serum that makes her act like a volcano from time to time. Now do you understand why I am worried about my family?" Dad said.

I turned to him. "Speaking of which, when are you going to find a way to fix this? I burned my sheets again in my sleep."

"Still working on it, Kitty."

Thor was still angry, but Loki got up with a smirk on his face. Finally, I had his attention. "It is all right, brother. I could have even liked her if we had met in the past," he said. Somehow, he enjoyed being attacked and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. He didn't want us to pity, or tolerate him just because he had been tortured. He didn't want to be the victim. I would remember that.

"So, do you allow him to stay or not?" Thor asked.

Dad looked at Pepper first, she nodded. I shrugged again. He lifted his eyebrows.

"What?" I asked. "He is your enemy, not mine."

"Is that why you attempted to burn him?" Thor asked.

"No, I attacked him only because I am allergic to disrespect and arrogance. If he wants to stay here, fine by me. But if he insults me or my family again, I will throw him out of the window."

I expected a reaction from Loki, but he was silent again. Thor uncuffed him and then turned to us.

"Thank you very much for your understanding," he said and bowed. This guy really had manners. I was just glad he didn't attempt to kiss my hand or something. Dad nodded.

"Don't make me regret this, brother," he warned him before leaving the Stark Tower.

There was no expression on Loki's face.


	3. Chapter 3

I was running on the treadmill when Dad came in. Physical activity helped me to control my powers. Also, I didn't want to end up a fat, lazy couch potato since I spent most of my time indoors. My agoraphobia had started after Dad rescued me from that Killian bastard and I hadn't been able to make much progress since then.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked, smiling.

"I am improving security, as we will be living with Mr. Glorious Purpose for a while."

I giggled. Dad was even more creative than me when it came to nicknames. "Come on, he is not that bad. Just a bit arrogant."

He dropped his equipment and looked at me. "Kitty, no!"

"What?"

"He is not your playmate, dear. Stay away from him."

I stopped and got off the treadmill. I needed a shower; I was sweaty and all, but I didn't get the opportunity to talk to Dad often and I didn't want to miss this one. I sat on the floor, crossed my legs and started to watch him while cleaning my face with a towel. Other dads usually mowed the lawns, watched soccer games on TV and drank beer. Mine built high-tech metal suits, created new elements and drank scotch. He was different, but it didn't have to be a bad thing.

"Playmate? Dad, we call people who are 18 or older 'adults'."

"Except me."

"Don't be so harsh on yourself. You have made progress."

"In becoming more adult-ish?"

"Yeah."

"Honey, I will take it as an insult."

He would never want to grow up, no matter what happened.

"So, what are you doing?"

"I am upgrading the locking system. In case of an emergency, you can just press this button and prevent all the access to the penthouse. It will also send a signal to S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Wow! You are being overprotective, Dad. You have to stop it, I will be fine."

He dropped everything once again. "Seriously, how are you doing, Kitty?"

"I would be better if you stopped calling me that name," I teased.

"But it is the short form of Katerina in Russian, isn't it? I read '_Anna Karenina'_."

I sighed. He was truly sorry for his past actions. He had even started to read the classics just to have something to talk about with me.

"It is. But we are not in Russia."

"Here is my deal: Tonight, get out of your cavern, go to a dance club, make some friends, get drunk, have fun and I will stop calling you Kitty."

"Nope."

He gave me his puppy eyes look. "At least let me throw a party for you."

"It is not my birthday."

"It doesn't have to be. We can make up for the ones we didn't celebrate. There is always an excuse to party."

I hugged him. "I don't need any of these to have fun. I have you."

"You really should take a shower, Kitty."

I released him and chuckled. "I am going to the bathroom now," I said and left him with his upgrades.

In the afternoon, I felt asleep on the couch while reading. I couldn't help it; waking up early caused me to feel like a zombie for the rest of the day. I woke up by the noise coming from the kitchen. I sit up to look what was going on and I saw Loki. He was desperately looking in the fridge. He didn't see me wake up.

I coughed to get his attention. He turned his head to me.

"What are you doing in _my_ kitchen?" This was my private kitchen, there was another one two floors down. He could use that if he wanted to eat.

He didn't reply.

"Let me guess, Bruce is here, right? Bruce Banner?" Bruce and Dad were BFFs since the Battle of New York. Now they were working together on some clean energy project and he was here almost everyday.

"I don't know, or care what that dull creature is called."

"Need help?" I asked.

"No."

I rolled my eyes. "Have you ever been in a kitchen before?" With this question, he surrendered. I stood up and went to help him. First, I put away all the random stuff he took off.

"OK, I am sorry I attacked you earlier today. But I have no tolerance for disrespect. So, if you want me to be nice to you, you must keep all the insults you have in your vocabulary for humans to yourself. Are we clear?"

"I don't want you to be nice to me."

"I know. Still, I don't always have guests, so I want to be a nice host for the only one I've ever had." I started to make two sandwiches.

"I am not your guest."

This guy was a real pain in the ass. "Oh yes you are, and I have great plans for you."

"What plans?"

"I am going to write your biography."

"Not if I don't allow you."

"You will change your mind."

He narrowed his eyes. "Why do you want to write my story, anyway?"

"Because, people like you usually have something important to say. I believe you can tell me something that has never been told before."

He smirked. "Listen to me well, little girl. I am not trying to justify my actions. I killed so many people of your kind, and I feel no remorse. I would kill a lot more, including you, if I had to. You can forget about your great plan."

I shrugged. "I am not trying to justify your actions. I don't care how many people you killed, if you feel bad about it or not. Hundreds of people kill each other everyday for no reason and no one bats an eye. Besides, I share your ideas about mankind, at least some of them. We are the worst thing that has ever happened to this planet. We deserve to be punished for our arrogance and greed."

I was sure he wasn't expecting to hear that, because I saw a sparkle in his eyes for a moment. "And does your father share your cruel thoughts about humanity?"

"I am not my dad's sidekick. I am an independent individual."

"How independent can we be from our families?" he asked, thoughtfully. Somehow I knew this question was about his own family. I didn't know the details, but I knew his father didn't love him.

"Daddy issues? Check that," I said.

His eyes were glaring daggers at me. I instinctively gulped because I felt scared. What was I getting myself into?

"Good," he said. "Show me some respect and be intimidated."

My courage was back with my anger. "You think I can't understand you."

"How old are you, little girl?"

"20."

"Hah! Here is the proof that how idiotic you mortals are. I am almost 1000 years old, and you think you can comprehend what I have been through. You are the most pathetic creature I have ever seen in a millenium. I hope you can comprehend this much. _Daddy issues_. Do you think it is entertaining? Do you know what Odin told me in my trial? He said my birthright was to die. What is the harshest thing you have ever heard from your precious _daddy_?"

Ouch! I wanted to say "Apply cold water to the burned area," but I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I asked "Do you know my name, Loki?"

He smirked again. "Kate Stark, the mighty heiress of the Stark Industries. Unfortunately, your title won't be enough to impress me."

I shook my head. "No, Kate Stark is not my name."

I went to my desk and took my licence from the drawer. I handed it to Loki. He looked at it, but didn't say anything.

"Katerina Antonova. This is my real name. The one my mother gave to me. When she died in Siberia, the natives we lived with contacted my father. I was so happy that I was finally going to meet him. He didn't even know he had a daughter. He didn't come to pick me up. Instead, he sent a bunch of guys in black suits. Still optimistic, I thought he had to be too busy to come by himself. But those guys took me to a hospital, for the DNA test. To make sure I was really his daughter. I saw him there for the first time. And I heard him saying 'I hope she is not my daughter.' After finding out I was his child, he didn't give me his last name. He didn't want me to ruin his reputation as a playboy. He sent me to a boarding school with my Russian name and accent. I was constantly bullied by racist sons of bitches there. I committed suicide, twice. I was 12."

I didn't tell him that I did it to get my dad's attention. If I had really wanted to die, I would have swallowed something stronger than a few painkillers, or cut my wrists in a place where no one can find me instead of a public bathroom.

" I am not saying I can fully understand what your life must be like, Loki. But you crave for attention, and I am your best shot," I added.

Loki examined me carefully for a short time, then grinned. "All the members of the Stark family try to appeal to my humanity at least once. Adorable! My answer is no, Katerina."

He got off the table and left my room.

"_Plevat' na vas!_" I muttered after him and took a bite from my sandwich angrily.


	4. Chapter 4

The day after Loki refused to collaborate on his biography, I was completely unmotivated to finish the short story I had been writing for my creative writing course. Thankfully, I didn't have to get out of my room to have a BA degree in English. Distant learning. All my assignments were to be submitted online. Maybe the only reason to love the 21st century. I was no computer whiz like Dad, but putting up with a machine was much easier than putting up with a society full of idiots, phonies and hypocrites.

This short story was supposed to be about how we people were good at self-destruction, how we were preparing our own demise by contaminating our only habitat, blah blah blah… I was a fan of dystopia. I had written most of it, but I couldn't come up with a shocking, assertive conclusion. I looked at the blank Word page in front of me and started to type random stuff to trigger my imagination. By the time I finished, I realized it was full of Russian and English swearing words. Then I typed this:

_There goes my one chance to write a masterpiece._

My door suddenly opened and Loki stormed in, with Pepper. She looked stressed and scared. I didn't know how much of this her body could handle.

"I don't know how you work things out in Asgard, but we normally knock on doors before invading someone's privacy."

"Oh, how civilized of you!" Loki smirked.

I took a deep breath and looked at my hands. They had started to glow, great! I was a time bomb.

"Kate?" Pepper asked anxiously.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten, as Bruce advised me. When I opened my eyes, the glowing was gone.

"Sorry Pepper, is there something wrong? Do you want me to toss him out of the window?"

"No, everything is OK, actually. Loki said he wanted some books, and I thought you might help him."

So, Mr. Glorious Purpose was a bookworm after all. "Why? Have we failed to entertain you, my Lord?" I scoffed.

"Yes," he replied plainly.

I had a vast collection of books, which meant I had a leverage. I was going to use it well. "I would be happy to share my books with you. On one condition. You know what it is," I grinned.

"I am not your pet, you little, spoiled mortal," Loki said. "Look, I can't spend my days watching your youngsters complaining about their parents having bought them a… Blackberry instead of an Iphone on a television show! My brain is too evolved for this nonsense!"

"And still, you are unwilling to cooperate? Why?"

He talked to me like an adult explaining a simple fact to a child. "For the reason that, like I said, I am not your plaything, human. Did you really think I would believe you wish to do this because you are interested in promoting my ideas? You only want to use me to gain popularity."

Ah-oh! I wished he hadn't said that thing about ideas in front of Pepper. She had compassion to put up with a criminal who faced inhumane consequences, but that was all.

"If I wanted to be a best-selling author, I would write about sparkling vampires with torture sex fantasies!" I snapped.

His forehead wrinkled. "What?"

I laughed. "Oh, you have no idea what kind of madness is going on in this world."

"This is madness, indeed! Sparkling vampires? If only they could meet Dracula." He shook his head.

"What? Is Dracula real? Do you know him? Damn, this is going to be amazing!"

He frowned, but he had a _I shouldn't have said that_ look on his face.

Loki and I could fight over this for hours, but I decided to cut it short. A brilliant idea popped up in my mind.

"You know what, I will lend you a book. But I am picking," I said and headed to my bookshelf. Well, it was not an ordinary bookshelf. It was an enormous closet with electronic doors, which could only be opened by a password. I opened it and looked at the mythology section.

"Are all these mechanisms just to protect your books?" Loki asked.

"This collection is worth more than some of my dad's cars," I explained. "Most of them are rare editions, or have a sentimental value to me." I had spent a fortune on book auctions.

I found the book I was looking for and handed him to Loki. "Here," I said. "Enjoy your current biography!" I patted on his shoulder.

Loki examined the book for a while. "Norse mythology?"

"Have you read it before?"

"I didn't bother."

I shrugged. "Well, you can either stick to this, or go back to watching _My Sweet Sixteen_."

Finally, he silently agreed and left. Pepper was looking at me, shocked.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing."

"Did you really tell him you support his ideas? I can't believe you, Kate!"

Pepper knew I was never fond of people, but of course, advocating Loki's attack was a bit extreme, even for me. "I never said that."

"Tony almost died trying to save us all. At least show some respect to your dad. And Phil! He killed Phil!"

"I liked Phil, too, but for goodness' sake, Pepper, he was an agent! I don't think he would mind being killed in action. He knew the risks."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Are you really that selfish, Kate?"

I couldn't believe I found myself in a fight with Pepper. I hated breaking her heart, but I couldn't stop the harsh words from coming out of my damn mouth. "Pepper, before calling me a selfish bitch, remember who saved your ass back in Miami."

OK, I was going to regret it.

"I never asked you to play the hero!"

"Who said I did it for you? I did it for Dad. He loves you more than he loves me. I'm trying to help you two build a life together."

"What? Have you been jealous of me all this time?"

"No. I am just saying, if you are not happy with me, you should have your own baby and raise it in your way. Maybe then you will leave me alone."

"That's exactly what is going to happen!"

"What?"

"I am pregnant, Kate. I wanted to tell you before Tony, thanks for ruining the moment!"

With tears in her eyes, she slammed the door.

I should have climbed down in this argument. I didn't even know why I had said all those things. More importantly, I was never jealous of Pepper. Ever. But I just couldn't help it when someone accused me of something I didn't do. I wondered if this was a part of Loki's revenge plan from Avengers. To destroy their families. But even in that case, I was the one who took the bait.

Oh, and I was going to have a half-brother. Or sister. I didn't know, but I had always wanted to have a little brother. A little genius like dad; someone who could carry the burden of the Stark legacy, not a failure like me.

Dad and Pepper went to dinner that evening. She would probably give him the good news there. I went to bed earlier than usual to repress my guilty conscience.

* * *

I was sitting at the computer, in the smaller room of the suite we rented with Pepper and Maya to give them some privacy. No doubt there was an awkward conversation going on there; Maya was one of Dad's exes after all. She was pretending to help us, but there was something off about her, I could tell. I usually read people's expressions like I read books, and I was rarely mistaken. For the time being, I was trying to find a clue on Dad's whereabouts on the Internet, browsing the news, but I was also on the alert for Maya.

Unfortunately, I wasn't wrong. I heard the door opening and a man coming in. My hand went to my backpack, in which I hid a gun. I heard Pepper resisting and asking for help. I took the gun without thinking; thankfully, I had asked Happy to teach me how to use one for the action scenes of my novel. I opened the door and saw a fair-haired man holding Pepper.

"Let her go!" I yelled.

"Who is she?" the man asked Maya.

"Stark's daughter."

He grinned. "So, the rumours were true after all. He really has a daughter."

"Yes, and you have pissed her off." Damn, I was talking like a professional assassin or something. Still, some part of me enjoyed the action.

"What are you going to do, kill me?" he scoffed.

I pulled the trigger, aiming at his shoulder. Pepper was struggling to escape; he still got her, but she had managed to put enough distance between herself and the man, so I wasn't going to hurt her. Being underestimated had always been a good motivation for me. I didn't hesitate. If I had to kill, I would kill.

Because of the pain, he let go off Pepper. "Run!" I shouted. "Go get some help."

Pepper left the room, Maya went after her. I shot once again, at her legs. She fell on the floor in pain. I still hadn't fully realized the situation. But the fair-haired man started to glow in a strange way, like he was on fire, and his wound healed.

My jaw dropped. "What the hell?"

"A daughter, huh? Even better," he said and started to approach to me.

Panicked, I shot again and again while moving backwards, until I was empty. Then I opened the window and jumped. Luckily, we were on the first floor. The bullets didn't kill him, but slowed him down. I went across the street and dived into the woods. It was dark, maybe I could ditch him.

I moved in slow motion, as if I was in the water. I looked down to see what restrained me and saw that my legs were buried in snow, to my knees. Everything was brightened now; not by the sun, but some kind of artificial green light. Now I knew this was a dream, because I had never seen this much snow in America, at least not in the cities I had been. A familiar cold wind started to whip my body, and I looked up, only to see the sky was on fire, just like the day mom disappeared without a trace. A green fire. I wasn't in Miami anymore, I was in Siberia.

"_Mama!_" I shouted and the screaming woke me up. I was in the penthouse once again. My heart was pounding. I checked my surrounding to make sure nothing was burning. But I realized something worse. I wasn't the one who screamed. The noise was coming from downstairs.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Loki's POV**_

"Do you have the key?" The Other asked.

"Not yet. But my eyes are on it."

"What takes you so long, Asgardian? Our patience wears thin."

"There is a right way to do this, without raising any doubts. Otherwise, it will be no different than your last attempt."

"_Our_ attempt," he corrected me. "You were the one who poorly commanded the Chitauri!"

"It was not my fault that your forces were not as formidable as you claimed. They fell with a mere human weapon."

"How dare you blame us?" he roared and I felt a sharp pain in my brain, as if my skull was cut open with a knife.

That was why I hated to sleep. I was still under the influence of the Tesseract, at least partially. The Other could reach to me in my dreams, which usually caused me to wake up screaming. But this time, I felt something wet splashed at my face and jumped in the bed. The lights were on and Kate Stark was standing beside me, with an empty glass jug in her hand, waiting for me to respond. She had poured the water inside the jug on me.

"What have you done?" I asked touching my wet clothes and hair.

"You were having a nightmare."

She was fun, to be honest. She seemed smart, at least for a mortal. I was almost going to feel sorry for the fact that I had to kill her in the end. I would feel sorry, indeed, if I had to do it for a fool like Thanos, but I was going to do it for my own vengeance, and I wouldn't mind killing a few mortals in the way. Thanos believed I was still his slave, after all he had done to me.

"I am all right, now leave me alone." I wasn't in the mood of dealing with a human after my latest encounter with The Other, no matter how fun it could possibly get.

"Gladly," she said and opened the door, but only to run into Tony Stark and his wife at the doorstep. They had to be back from some kind of formal occasion, as they both had their fancy clothes on them. A feeble effort, very common among the mortals, to hide their savagery.

Great. And I thought his daughter was bad enough. I tried not to imagine how he was going to mock me.

"What is happening here? We heard him screaming," he asked.

"I tested the talisman," Kate said. What was she doing?

Stark raised his eyebrows. "By watering him?"

"Yeah, I wanted to catch him off-guard in his sleep."

Good girl.

"So, do these anti-magic thingies work?"

"I don't know. He didn't use magic to defend himself."

He laughed at me. "What is the matter, Reindeer Games? Hydrophobic?"

They left me alone. I turned off the lights and tried to go back to sleep. I couldn't, so I turned on the lights once again. There was not much to do here. The Man of Steel had furnished the room with a television, but I decided that it was more of a torture method than entertainment. No wonder some called it "idiot box". Then I remembered the book Kate had given me: _The Norse Myths_. I had read it today, since I had nothing else to do; and I had realized the meaning in her mischievous grin while she was giving me the book. Mortals believed I was the _mother_ of an eight-legged horse.

_Look how far I have fallen._

I looked out of the window and wondered how these humans could live with the constant noise caused by the vehicles. The activity outside never stopped, they were always headed to somewhere. The world shouldn't be so overpopulated, yet these brainless insects didn't stop reproducing as if they were about to extinct.

Once again, I wondered why I had to end up this way. Why Odin had wanted me to believe I was a prince, leaving me with questions why I was never my brother's equal. He could simply have locked me in a cell right after he brought me to Asgard from Jotunheim. At least, I would believe I was born to be a prisoner then, not a king. I would accept my fate, and none of these would have happened.

Well, I could use a drink tonight. I listened closely, if there was anyone at the bar, but it seemed like everyone had retreated to their bed chambers. The top three floors of the skyscraper belonged exclusively to the Stark family. The top one belonged to the girl, the second one was the Man of Steel and his wife's, and the third one was a common living area. I was granted a room on this floor, so that everyone could keep an eye on me. I wasn't allowed to go downstairs, for the sake of employees' safety. Like I had any interest in them.

Stark had a variety of alcoholic beverages, what they called "scotch" was especially delicious. I wasn't a heavy drinker like my brother, but I appreciated a good drink. I took the bottle in my hand, looking for a glass.

"Can't sleep?" a familiar voice asked. I rubbed my forehead with my hand and released a deep breath.

"Want to try something better?" she asked. No matter what I said, she would keep talking, so I surrendered.

"This is good enough," I said.

She came to the bar and took out a clear bottle. The liquid inside it was colorless. She grabbed the glass from my hand and put it back, replacing it with two smaller glasses.

"Vodka," she explained. "A very special one." She poured vodka into the glasses and drank hers up. I repeated the same and immediately felt something burning my throat. I had never tasted something like this before. My face wrinkled.

"75% alcohol," she smiled. "Please tell me you have alcohol in Asgard."

_Why don't you simply kill yourself with a bottle of 100%?_ Mortals were insane.

"We do," I said. "We have beer, mead and wine. But no vodka."

"I can give you a bottle before you leave here."

I laughed. "First you lied for me, now are you bribing me with drinks?"

She shrugged. "Well, I have to do my best, but no, I didn't lie to gain your sympathy."

She wanted to play. Fine. "Then why?" I asked.

"Because, exposing someone's weakness is lame."

"_Lame_?"

"Yep."

"I admire your determination, but what makes you think people will be interested in the life story of a monster who wanted to take away their precious freedom?"

"Stockholm syndrome. Human brain works in strange ways."

"Just curious, Kate, if I had succeeded, become the tyrant you all would fear and resent, and your father had fallen with the rest of his companions, would you still offer this?"

She shrugged. "I had a contingency plan."

"Which is…"

"You see, there is no aristocracy in this country. Money talks here instead of blood. And I have plenty of money. I was going to pledge my alliance to you, offering man power, natural resources, technology, publicity… Anything you can think of. I would only ask for immunity in return. For me and my family."

Her pathetic plan made me smirk. "After all your father has done to save this world, I bet he would be devastated to hear this."

She rolled her eyes. "My dad is like a 10-year-old boy, in case you haven't noticed yet. This superhero enthusiasm is temporary. One day it will disappear. Until then, it is my duty to make sure he is on the winning side. Unfortunately, it can't always be the right one."

She sighed and explained further. "Before all of these, do you know what they called him? 'Merchant of Death'. Because he designed weapons, which didn't bother me at all. As long as money flows in, I don't care who lives or who dies. In the end, there will always be someone who makes those weapons."

"You think you are clever."

"No, my point is I'm just a human. Why pretend to be an angel while selfishness and survival are my defining instincts?"

"Are they?"

"Prove me wrong."

Oh, I was going to prove her wrong. "What would you do, if I had demanded you something else in return instead of influence? Like, turning yourself in as a concubine?"

"I would give you my finger."

"Then I would have to decapitate you. See, not so defining."

"I suppose it is a good thing you lost, then. Another round?"

She poured another round and raised her glass. "To what?" I asked.

She thought for a moment. "To brothers," she said and we toasted. I drank up. "Do you have a brother? How many children does The Man of Steel have?"

"Not yet," she said and then added. "Pepper is pregnant."

"Is it a boy?"

"I don't know. But I always wanted a brother."

"Well, you can take mine if you truly want one. He is a genuine nuisance."

She giggled. "Come on, you still love Thor."

"What makes you think so?"

"Well, you still call him 'brother', except, technically he is not."

"I hate him."

"Hate is an inevitable part of love, Loki. Haven't you figured that out in a thousand years?"

"What are you now, a sage?"

She changed the subject. "Let's talk about _your_ children. Are you really the mother of Sleipnir?"

Of course she was going to ask this question. It was the whole point of giving me that absurd book. "Odin has a horse named Sleipnir, but no, I am not his mother! What kind of sick mind could have come up with this? And I am not some sort of scapegoat or whipping boy who is sent to fix things every time a crisis breaks out in Asgard!"

"OK, I don't know about other people, but I believe you."

"I assume this is the part where you will tell me I should accept your offer."

She rolled her eyes. "You are a total disappointment, Loki!"

"Oh, what have I done to disappoint you, my lady?"

"I thought you would be more fun."

"Fun?"

"Well, they call you 'The God of Mischief'. Isn't fun the whole point of mischief in the first place?"

What could I say? She was right. There was a time I pulled all the pranks only to have fun, to entertain myself. Before things got out of control.

"I promise, you will like it, just give it a try!" she insisted. "Look, I will give you a manuscript before publishing it. I won't send it to anyone unless you approve. I give you my word."

I took a deep breath, remembering the first time I realized I was a frost giant. Then, I had felt horrible for being the monster mothers told their children about at night. Now I was more than a monster. Midgardian parents would tell stories about me, Loki, the malevolent god, the mighty Thor's eternal enemy, who attempted to rule them all and was defeated by a group of heroic warriors. I would be hated forever. Here, a mortal was offering me a chance to change that. A chance to tell my side of the story. I had been belittled by my subjects as a prince, betrayed by my family and citizens as a rightful king, manipulated and used like a puppet by Thanos as a broken soul. What else did I have to lose?

"Please?" she asked, already knowing I was about to accept.

"Fine. Let us just get it over with…"

She jumped of the seat with a smile on her face. "You won't regret it, I guarantee you," she said. "I'll see you in the morning, don't be late. We have a millenium to cover!"

"Hey, it doesn't mean you can give me orders like I am your servant. If we are going to do this, you will show me respect!"

"Why, because you are a god?"

"Precisely."

"And I am an atheist. Welcome to the 21st century!" she grinned and left.

Finally, I was alone. I poured myself another glass of vodka. Just for a brief moment, I thought what it would be like if Kate was an Asgardian, not a mortal. If she was my friend. A true friend, I meant, who would be on my side, defending me no matter what I did, like the ones Thor had. He had plenty of them, actually. I had none. A smart friend with whom I could embark on mischievous adventures, and have fun, what would it be like?

I slapped myself mentally to send those sick thoughts away. The girl was going to die soon. For my luck, she already had suicidal tendencies. No one would suspect me if she finally succeeded. Of course, after she finished writing her book.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Kate's POV**_

"So, which name do you go by? Odinson or Laufeyson?"

"Just Loki, of Asgard."

"Very well."

I placed my fingers on the keyboard and started to type: _Memoirs of a God: The Biography of Loki of Asgard._

"Damn, there are too many 'of's here," I murmured.

"What?" Loki asked.

"Listen to this title: _Memoirs of a God: The Biography of Loki of Asgard_. Sounds awkward."

"Then just make it _The Biography of Loki_."

"Meh! That sounds like a PhD thesis. I am looking for something more… poetic."

"All right, so _Memoirs of a God _it is! Does it really matter?"

"Of course, it _does_ matter!"

He closed his eyes. "When exactly can I start?"

I could think of a better title later. I had persuaded him last night, somehow, but it would be stupid to push his limits. No need to take risks, I thought.

"Right now," I said.

And he started, with his earliest childhood memories.

"…If people think I am an incapable warrior, they are wrong. As a prince, I have been trained to kill since I learned to walk, and I was pretty good at fighting. My reluctance had nothing to do with lack of talent. It was about my dissatisfaction. I instinctively knew ruling required more than swinging swords or punching. My mother realized it and took me to the library one day and said 'There are so many different types of power, Loki. It is not limited with your physical strength.' Then she told me to look around and asked what I saw. I said I saw books. 'I see more,' she replied. 'I see power. Knowledge is power.' Her words were so inspiring, I thought being a master of magic like her would make me respectable. How naïve I was, for having thought everyone was as sensible as her."

Half an hour later, he really got carried away. I could hardly keep up with him. He didn't wear his armour at home, but he had a green kimono-like top with black pants and a long, brown coat on it. He was pacing up and down, constantly speaking and his coat was waving behind him while he was storming in the room. He talked like he had been silenced his whole life. This guy could really use a therapy session.

I took another deep breath and focused on, trying not to miss any detail.

"…Then Thor said, 'Some do battles, others just do tricks' and laughed at me with that impudent servant! Of course, until I made three snakes come out from the cup on the tray. You should have seen that filthy peasant's face. _Trick_! Hah! I lost count of how many times my tricks saved the life of their dearest prince when he blindly attacked on his enemies in battles, without a rational plan. I spent years learning magic, still, they considered me as a court fool, only because I didn't want to be a lunkheaded bag of muscles! Now that I think about it, it wouldn't make a difference even if I were the strongest, the most ruthless or fearless warrior in the Nine Realms, because I was the misshapen offspring of a frost giant! I was condemned to live in the shadow Thor and Odin casted upon…"

"COFFEE BREAK!" I finally snapped. My brain was literally throbbing and my poor fingers were numb. I had been writing non stop for 3 hours.

"What is the matter?" he asked innocently, but he was well aware of how he tormented me.

"You don't have any friends, do you?" I asked as I went to make some coffee.

"Indeed I don't," I heard him murmuring.

I put some water in the kettle and took out two cups.

"What about you?" he asked. "Don't you ever get out of your fortress?"

"Not really. I have agorophobia. Do you know what—"

"I am not Thor. I know what agoraphobia is."

I tried not to get offended by his rude behavior, but… He was the very definition of rude. He even mentioned his brother as if he lacked basic intelligence. I had a fight with Pepper along the way of convincing him and I was still trying to explain her that I wasn't some kind of sociopath who wanted to watch the world burn. I had done so much to write this book and I wasn't going to give up just because he was not nice to me, but after then, I didn't want to see his face for the rest of my life. I could sense there was much more in him than pure arrogance, but still, I hadn't chosen the isolated lifestyle of a writer to be pushed around by others.

The coffee was ready. When I turned around, I saw him holding a picture frame in his hand. "Who is she?" Loki asked.

The picture was taken by my mom when I was still a child. My best friend Aysylu and I were cuddling with a Siberian Husky on the snow.

"The mighty Loki is interested in pathetic mortals?" chuckled.

"I thought maybe I should be nicer to my writer. My history is literally in your hands now."

_Look who has come to his senses._ If only he was sincere.

"Am I supposed to believe this?"

"Do you think I have an ulterior motive?"

"You always have an ulterior motive. Just give me some time to connect the dots, I'll figure it out."

"I like this little game we play," he said. I handed him his cup.

"She is my best friend, Aysylu," I explained as I put the frame back on the desk. She was still my friend. Siberia wasn't exactly a wi-fi hotspot, so she didn't have Skype, but we exchanged letters in the good, old-fashioned way. She was even planning to pay a visit to me, especially after hearing about New York having been invaded by aliens. She was better than me when it came to looking for trouble.

"Aysylu? That is a weird name. Is she Russian like you?"

I couldn't help but giggle. "Don't let her hear that. She is an Evenki. Evenkis are one of the many nomadic tribes in Siberia."

"You seem to be very fond of them. That's very unlike of you."

"Because they are very nice people once they accept you. Even you would like them. They respect magic." Talking about them raised my spirits.

I knew he would be alarmed when he heard the word "magic". "Enlighten me," he smirked.

"They had spiritual leaders called Shamans. They were both respected and feared among these people. And they were right to fear him. Shamans were powerful indeed."

"Did you believe in magic? Before you met me, I mean."

"Of course I did. I saw a Shaman in action with my own eyes. And I think magic is cool." I shrugged.

"Cool?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Damn, Loki! Sometimes you seem to be ashamed of your powers."

"That is what happens when people constantly humiliated you for your _powers_."

"Do you know what we call it when people scorn you for a particular skill you have?"

"What?"

"Envy."

He laughed. "So, do Asgardians envy me? I find it hard to believe!"

"Yes, they do. They are intimidated by something they don't possess, can't you see? Any warrior who has his senses would like to be invisible to his enemies. Serpents coming out of wine, doppelgängers, being able to hide from the biggest stalker in the universe? Awesome!"

"Biggest stalker?"

"Your guardian, Heimdall. He is able to see anything in the Nine Realms, right?" I looked up. "No offense, Heimdall."

He bursted into laughter. "Only you could think of calling him a stalker!" He shook his head, still laughing.

Then he got serious and asked. "If you loved these people so much, why did you leave?"

Long ago, I had promised myself not to think about what happened back there, because there were no answers. It had been turning into a sick obsession, so I had stopped searching and moved on. But somehow, I knew everything was connected. Maybe Loki could give me some answers. Or would he? What are the odds, I thought.

"I was a love child, Loki. My mom and dad hooked up for one night at a science fair, and they never saw each other again. Mom was a scientist and traveled a lot. She was all alone in Siberia when she gave birth to me. Some Evenkis found her and took her in. I grew up in their settlement, playing with their children. In the meantime, Mom started to work in a science facility nearby. One day, an earthquake happened, the sky was brightened by a green fire, like the Northern Aurora. She never came back. The elders didn't allow me to go to the science facility. They said it was in the enemy territory and we shouldn't break the ancient truce. But Aysylu and I didn't listen and ventured there. We found nothing, literally. Nothing. No corpses, no blood, no sign of struggle. The buildings were there, but people had just vanished. A few days later, the adults contacted with my dad and took me to the nearest town. End of the story."

Loki seemed interested. "Quite a mystery."

"Loki, can I ask you something about magic?"

"Ask me." Somehow he was nicer when we talked about magic.

"Can humans see the future?"

"To a certain degree, yes. Very rarely, however. But what does foresight have to do with all these?"

"Because, unlike me, Mom didn't believe in magic. It could have saved her life. The Shaman I told you about, he had seen this coming. Do you have any idea what happened there, Loki?"

"No," he said thoughtfully. "But I would like to help you figure it out. Can I see that necklace?"

"Mom's necklace?" I asked, surprised. It was a piece of brown rock, nothing valuable. I never thought it could be connected to whatever she had been involved.

He took the necklace, examined it for a while and then gave it back to me. "What is it?" I asked.

"I believe it is a key."

I could swear something else was in his mind. But it didn't matter. I was going to play dumb until I had my answers.


	7. Chapter 7

We were quite busy on the following days. Our daily routine started with us working on the book, then, after a break, went on examining a bunch of clues about my mom's mysterious case. There was nothing much to look at, though. It was as if the science facility she had worked at never existed. I knew it was somehow connected to Tunguska event—Mom had mentioned it—so we found everything we could about it. In 1908, a massive explosion had occurred in Tunguska, leaving a huge,freaky scar on the ground. I knew what it looked like, because I had seen it myself, when we went to the science facility with Aysylu. It was supposed to be a meteor or something, but there were no samples found. To make the matters worse, the first pictures taken after the incident had been ordered to be burned. Thus, all we could find on the Internet was a bunch of UFO theories, which was completely useless when you had an alien on your side.

"The scar must be the result of dark energy," Loki said. "Like the one Odin used to send Thor here when I attacked. Therefore, my theory is, whoever came here, they didn't have access either to the Bifrost or the Tesseract. But they had access to magic, and I am not talking about cheap tricksters here."

I took a piece of paper and drew a compass-like symbol, four crossing lines, three of which had a tiny triangle at one end. "This is the symbol of the Valley Men," I explained. "Does it look familiar?"

Loki shook his head. "Who are the Valley Men?"

"They were the enemies of Evenkis, but there was an ancient truce between them. They had marked their territory with this symbol on the trees. The two sides are supposed not to cross the boundaries of each other."

"I haven't seen anything like this in the Nine Realms. They are probably from another galaxy, and I have no idea what they want from you mortals."

Our busy schedule didn't go unnoticed by Dad and Pepper, of course. I had to convince Pepper that we weren't making evil plans on world domination or something. I had also apologized a thousand times for that fight, and now we were good. Dad was worse. He started wearing a "Rules for Dating My Daughter" t-shirt at home, which made Loki only smirk. When I told him we weren't dating, he said he had bought that t-shirt two years ago and been waiting for an opportunity since then.

"Not that I approve of a lunatic space Viking as your first boyfriend, but it is better than nothing," he said, but I thought he was cool about it only because he knew it wasn't true.

However, it was true that I started to enjoy Loki's company, and he enjoyed mine. I could still feel he was hiding something, but whatever it was, I could say it wasn't going to hurt me, Dad or Pepper. I even encouraged him to tell me what was going on, but he still didn't fully trust me. He was dangerous, yet fun. Our sarcasm duels never ended and they never would, because we both liked them. Bitterness was an integral part of our personalities, and also our friendship.

The worst part of writing his biography was about the time he spent with Thanos. I had watched gore movies like _Hostel_ or _Saw_ with no discomfort and even enjoyed them, but I was almost going to pass out when he told me every single detail about his torture. Not because of the violence, but because picturing him so miserable, so hurt broke my heart.

"…When I told him that I wasn't going to scream no matter what he was going to do to me, he sewed my mouth shut before starting his torture. 'Let's hear those screams now,' he said and he begin with countless tiny cuts on my body and washing them with acid. I managed not to scream for a few hours, I remember fainting while biting my tongue to handle the pain, but he immediately woke me up to cut me no slack. Finally, I tore the stitches apart by opening my mouth and screaming at the top of my lungs."

I instinctively pressed my hands to my lips and looked at his mouth to find a mark left from this brutality. But his skin was flawless.

Loki chuckled. "Magic creates wonders, doesn't it?" "My mother spent days without even sleeping to heal me."

"Unbelievable," I said.

"I think that is enough for today, or you are going to vomit," he laughed.

"I am fine," I opposed but I was more than eager to stop here.

An awkward silence dominated the room while I tried to digest what I had just heard. I wondered how he could handle it. For goodness' sake, he could even joke about this experience. I knew him well enough to see this was a mask, a disguise to hide his agony. But still, how could someone pretend not to mind his own humiliation and pain? He surely deserved his reputation as The God of Lies.

"Why me?" he asked suddenly to break the silence. "Your father is an idol in the society, so are his companions. Not to mention they would be much easier to cooperate than me. Most importantly, does my arrogance not bother you? You said you were allergic to arrogance."

I didn't think he still remembered the day we met. But of course he did, he was a thousand year old man who remembered how he took his first steps. "The thing is, it is not _your_ arrogance you have," I said.

"Whose arrogance is it, then?"

"Thor's. If you hate someone too much, you eventually become like them. You wanted to be his equal so badly that you took his personality. And your betrayal made him hate you so much that he took yours. Now he is the perfect heir to the throne and you are the black sheep. This is where your plan backfired, if you ask me."

"So, you say I was the right heir at the beginning?"

"Yes."

"Then how did I fail to prove this to others?"

"It is Odin's fault. He shouldn't have been so blind to his biological son."

Loki laughed painfully. "If you meet Odin one day, don't tell him that. He will kill you."

I shrugged. "He is not my king. I am not a citizen of Asgard."

"I value your ideas, Kate. Still, I didn't get my answer. Why me?"

"Well, I wanted to write a book about Avengers, but S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't let me. They said there were too many secrets."

"And Kate Stark just gave up. Do you really expect me to believe that?"

"OK, fine! They are brave, powerful and nice, everyone enjoys watching them in action, but that's all. Their histories are boring. This is the good thing about villains. They are not built in a lab or workshop."

"Do you know what is the best thing about boring people?"

"What?"

"They are fun to impersonate."

He stood up and concentrated on his magic for a second. With a sudden glow, he turned into Steve Rogers in his costume. He even had his shield in his hand.

I opened my mouth in amazement. I knew what Loki was capable of, but I had never witnessed it. He had never used his magic around me before.

He looked at himself in the mirror. "Costume's a bit much... so tight. But the confidence, I can feel the righteousness surging." He turned to me. "Hey, you wanna have a rousing discussion about truth,honor, patriotism? God bless America!"

I had never laughed so hard in my life. It was probably a sin to make fun of such an unselfish person, but I didn't care. Yes, Steve was a good guy, but he was also boring as hell, in a way I couldn't explain, until now. He was_ too_ good.

He transformed back in his true form. "Your turn," he said.

I hardly stopped laughing and asked. "What?"

He crossed his arms.

"Who do you want me to impersonate?"

He sat back on the couch. "Me," he said.

"Why? Are you looking for a good excuse to kill me?"

"No. Like I said, I value your ideas."

Well, I had no choice. I stood up and coughed for a few times.

"Take off the talisman," he ordered.

I hesitated for a moment.

"Come on, Kate! I can't turn you into me unless you take it off."

I did as he said, because I didn't want to drive him away when he finally started to trust me. I hoped he wouldn't make me regret it.

I closed my eyes and waited for something happen. "Open your eyes," he said.

I opened them and looked in the mirror. "Wow," I said. I even sounded like him. Now I understood why he had so much fun with his notorious tricks.

"I am waiting…"

"OK, I am Loki of Asgard, and I am lecturing a bunch of Germans in English because I cannot afford a translator…"

He smiled. "Good. Continue."

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom… has to do something with the joy of life, I can't quite remember now." I forgot his fancy language and thought for sometime, but it was hard to remember what exactly he had said there. He was still waiting. "You know what, I have no idea what the hell I am talking about, I've been spending my days with a psycho called Thanos and I am homesick. For god's sake—wait a minute, I am a god—just give me a throne." I looked up. "Father, do you hear me? I want my throne, right now!"

I finished my performance and closed my eyes. This was madness. Loki was going to kill me, he was always serious when it came to his right to rule. But I heard him roaring with laughter.

"This was good," he said. "Very good."

We were still laughing when the door opened. It was Dad and Bruce, their eyes wide open. It took me a while to remember that I still looked like Loki and their expressions when they saw two Lokis in the room made both of us laugh even more. Loki snapped his fingers and I became myself once again.

"What the hell?" Dad asked.

"Relax, Dad. We are just having fun. But you missed the best part. Loki, we should have recorded a video of this."

"Tony, no offense, but your daughter is a psychopath," Bruce sighed. Loki was so cheerful he didn't mind his presence.

Dad pretended to disapprove what was going on here, but I could swear he was glad that I finally started to have fun. "I know, my bad," he told Bruce.

"Sorry," I said. "Why did you come?"

"We were going out to eat shawarma and I wanted to ask you if you need anything from outside."

"Oh, great! Can you post this letter for me?"

"Sure. Is it to your friend, Aye-see-loo?"

I shook my head, smiling. "Dad, I only have one friend and you can't even spell her name correctly." I took an envelope from my drawer and handed it to him.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"Not yet, Dad. But thanks. Have fun, and nice to see you, Bruce!"

My agoraphobia resulted from my fear to explode in public. Dad had injected with me a new antidote and it seemed to work. The effects of the Extremis were gone, but it could be temporary. I wanted to wait for a couple of more days before going out.

After they left, Loki asked. "So, who is next?"

I looked at the clock.

"This was fun indeed, but I am afraid we should stop here. Now if you excuse me, I have a homework to do."

"What homework? You don't even go to school."

"I do. I attend to the classes online."

"What kind of education is that?"

"The kind that you don't have to rot in a small dorm room which you usually share with uncivilized morons, fool around at lame parties, or protest things you don't even care about but can still get the diploma."

"I suppose you will need your computer." Lately, I taught him how to surf the Internet and he seemed interested.

"Yeah, but you can have my tablet. It is almost the same thing. Just tap on the screen." I said while giving it to him.

Loki was a fast learner. He had taken him less than an hour to learn how to run a search on Google, watch a video on YouTube and read newspapers. However, he murmured a word like "pathetic" or "disgusting" every five minutes. Considering what kind of stuff dominated the Internet, I couldn't blame him.

As usual, the deadline of the assignment was a few hours later and I had been procrastinating for weeks. Now I was in a hurry. I wished it was as fun as writing Loki's life story. Unfortunately it wasn't, and probably I would have nothing fun in my hands when he left for Asgard. I should accept this fact before it was too late.

Thanks to the compulsive effect of the rush, I made quite a progress in a few hours. Loki was still reading something on the tablet, or watching, I didn't know.

"Haven't you finished your homework yet?"

I stopped. There was definitely something he wanted to tell me, and ignoring him would be a mistake. He felt offended when people ignored him. "No, but I always time for my dear alien friend."

"I just wanted to say I am almost glad that I failed conquering your realm. I am not sure if I would really want to rule such a degenerated race."

I giggled. "So, all Avengers had to do was to introduce you the Internet, instead of fighting."

He wasn't sure what to say. "Probably."

"Loki, I am glad you failed, too, so that we have become friends now."

"Kate, stop saying that. We are not friends."

"Aren't we? Today you said you value my ideas, now you are sitting here just to be in my company while I am working on a stupid assignment. Don't tell me you don't like spending time with me!"

"It doesn't make us friends. You are a mortal. You will always be beneath me no matter how brilliant you are. You can only be my pet."

"I am not your pet, Loki. I would rather die than be your pet. If you don't agree with this, you should leave me alone, now! I am done with your insults," I said harshly. Loki could be a hurt man who should be handled carefully, but my patience had its limits, too.

"Fine," he said and left, but only to come back ten minutes later.

"What?" I asked plainly.

"I have come to apologize."

"You? Apologize?"

" 4000 years is a long time. It is even longer when you have to spend it rotting in a dungeon all alone. You made at least some of those days bearable for me. You deserve my gratitude and I hope I stop failing you before I am gone forever. Good night, Kate."

* * *

I had one of the best slumbers in my life that night, until I felt a pair of strong hands gripping my neck. I opened my eyes and faced Loki, sitting on top of me and trying to kill me with his bare hands, literally. His eyes were burning with hatred, yet his expression was cold, like a robot who was assigned to exterminate me. I tried to reach to the emergency button, but it was impossible to escape from his grasp.

"Loki, what the hell?" I whimpered.

That's it, I thought. I was wrong to trust him. The God of Lies had been lying to me all along.


	8. Chapter 8

The lack of oxygen started to make me feel faint. Resisting such a physical strength would be stupid, so I let it go. I wished I hadn't taken the antidote while desperately trying to burn Loki. It was in vain, there was not a single sparkle. I figured if I struggled long enough, then gave up to convince him I was finally dead, maybe he would leave me.

Just a few more seconds to make this believable, I told myself, while my body was wriggling in the bed. But, we both heard a clicking and his hands loosened for a short time.

There was another Loki at the door. That one looked even more frightening with rage.

"Kate, run!" he yelled.

The illusion disappeared and I found the ugliest critter I had ever seen on top of me. Gray skin, sharp teeth, metal armor. It had to be The Other. I tried to kick him, but he was too strong. Loki pulled him off of me and they started to wrestle on the floor.

"I told you to wait!" Loki told him.

"Do you really believe you can fool us, Asgardian?" the creature roared. "We have always known you would betray."

"You were fool to believe I would submit to you!"

The Other flipped Loki over and started to punch his face.

"That's it, I am calling S.H.I.E.L.D.," I finally managed to say.

"Don't!" Loki hardly said between the blows he was taking on his face. "Trust me!"

What was I supposed to do then?

"Look at you, Asgardian," the creature said. "Look how your affection for this pathetic mortal have made you weaken. She will suffer the consequences of your mistakes now."

"You don't know anything, monster!"

I tried not to think about this conversation. Instead, I focused on what I could do to stop him, and I realized there was a silver, elegant dagger on the floor. Loki must have conjured it somehow. The Other was too busy to notice my revelation. His armor looked impenetrable, but realizing a tiny opening on the back of his neck, I sneaked up on him and stabbed with all the strength I had. He groaned, turning to me now. Loki was coughing on the floor. He was in no condition to help me. I started to move backwards, the wrongest thing I could have done. Behind me, there was only a large glass panel separating my room from the sky.

"You little quim!" he grabbed my throat and lifted me with a single hand.

"Oh, you are so ugly," I defied him with a sarcastic smile. If I was going to die, I wouldn't die like a coward.

The Other tossed me out of the window and the glass shattered when my body hit it. I tried to cover my face, a stupid instinct, because when I hit the ground within a few seconds, it wasn't going to matter anymore.

Then, a miracle happened. I felt two hands grabbing my legs just before I started falling. Loki. He pulled me back and pressed my body to his. Only then, I realized how badly I was shivering. We both collapsed on the floor. I rested my head on his chest. Not that I needed it, but because it suddenly felt nice.

"Kate…" Loki groaned. He tilted my head and examined my face. "Are you all right?"

"I am fine," I said, coming back to reality and looking around. "Where is he?"

"He is gone. He has the Tesseract."

I set myself free from his arms and stood up. "Isn't it strange that nobody is awake?"

"Isolation spell. Nobody can hear or see what is happening here right now."

Of course, Loki was not the only sorcerer in the universe. "Is that why you didn't want me to call for help?"

"Yes."

"And, is that the only reason?" I gave him an accusing look.

"You are bleeding. We need to take care of those wounds."

There were a few cuts on my arms, but I felt the real pain on my throat, it was terribly sore by The Other's grasp. I rubbed it with one hand and immediately realized my necklace was gone.

"The necklace!" I shouted. "It is gone! Loki, he was after my necklace, not me."

He didn't reply.

"You knew it! You knew it all along!" I grasped his collar and started to shake him. "You lied to me about Siberia! You know what is in there, you know what my mother had to do with all of these!"

"Let's heal you first," he plainly said and dragged me to the bed. I tried to escape, but he pinned me down by my shoulders. I was still struggling.

"Kate, I am not trying to kill you here, calm down!"

"I don't need you to heal me, I have seen enough magic for today!"

He sighed. "Allow me to heal you, and I will tell you everything."

I stopped fighting. "Start now."

He first whispered some words, brushing his fingers on my arms and I realized the cuts were healing really fast. Then he wrapped his fingers on my throat and repeated the same thing.

Once he was done, I reminded him of his promise.

"You were right, I lied," he admitted.

"Gee, you don't say!"

He ignored my sarcasm. "Your necklace was some kind of ancient key, to a portal between realms. Thanos wanted me to retrieve it. The plan was based on me being sent here."

"The torture was a lie, then. You let him take you."

"I did. But I had my own reasons. I would get the key and destroy it, I wasn't going to let him have what he wanted. This was supposed to be my revenge from him. Then I was going to kill you, as a part of my revenge plan from Avengers."

"But you saved me tonight? Why? Because you have a better plan in your mind now? Are you going to kidnap and torture me, using those methods you claimed that Thanos used on you?"

"No," he opposed but then pursed his lips stubbornly.

"Before killing me, Loki, at least tell me the truth about my mother. Who killed her? Or is she alive somewhere? Why was she there in the first place? You owe me this."

"The science facility your mother worked at was built by mortals to recreate the ones you called the Valley Men. The experiment went terribly wrong, they shut down the facility and the results of the experiment were hidden in the place between the realms, by your mother. Just before she died. This is all Thanos told me."

"That doesn't make any sense. My mother was an anthropologist, not a genetic engineer."

"The Valley Men were summoned to your world by an evil Shaman to help him in a battle centuries ago. They have been dwelling there since then. They were the ones who created the portal and the key. Your mother was probably studying their history. She found the key, hid whatever the other scientists created there and sent it away with you."

Now that was an answer. "Are you sure she is dead? We couldn't find her corpse."

"I don't know, but I don't want to give you any false hopes."

I chuckled. "You want to kill me, but you don't want to give me false hopes, huh? How thoughtful."

He smiled painfully. "Kate, if it is any consolation, the torture was real."

"Yeah, sure it was."

"I am not talking about the false one. I am talking about the time after I fell of the Bifrost."

"What?"

"When Thanos found me, I refused to serve him at first. I had no interest in ruling Midgard. I wasn't fond of mortals like Thor, but I didn't resent them either. They matter to me only as much as an ant matters to you. I only demanded my birthright, to be the king of Asgard. Thanos wanted to control my mind, but first he had to weaken me with physical pain. My mind was strong, I resisted for months. Then he convinced me that attacking Midgard was the best way to get my revenge on Thor, because the love of a mortal had changed him. I was also going to have a chance to prove that I am a capable king by ruling the Earth. I can't remember the rest, I wasn't myself until the green monster smashed me."

Silver tongue, I reminded myself. He was lying.

"You remember the rest very well, Loki. Don't lie to me again. You told me every detail of it."

He released another breath like a student who was dealing with a difficult exam. "I am not putting the blame on Thanos for my actions. I attacked your people willingly, I still don't feel any remorse. I never will. But Thanos made me_ want_ to do them. I would have never come up with such a foolish plan by myself. He had to break me first to convince me."

"Then why did you defend your actions at your trial?"

He took a breath. "Because I am too proud to admit those humiliating moments were real."

"But you are admitting now. Why?"

"You very well know why."

I wasn't going to play dumb. I knew what he meant. "The A- word?" I asked.

"What is the A- word?"

I rolled my eyes. "What The Other told you. Something about your affection weakening you." Somehow, the thought of repeating the exact sentence out loud made me feel uncomfortable.

"It was nonsense."

"It didn't seem nonsense to me."

He lifted his head, defying me with a death glare in his eyes. "What is it you wish to hear, Kate? That I have finally become an identical copy of my brother? That I started to care about a mortal? Yes, you are different from any other human I know, but you are still a human. How long do you think it will last? Your life is a heartbeat!"

Deep down, I secretly knew I wanted this gorgeous man all for myself. But I wasn't ready to accept it, unless he accepted first. I needed a proof that I wasn't completely delusional.

"It didn't stop your brother. Why should it stop you?" Maybe triggering some brotherly rivalry could work.

"Because I am not my brother!" he yelled. Then he calmed down and went on. "There was a woman named Ingrid. An Asgardian. She felt in love with a mortal man. She took him in, gave him a potion of the Idunn fruit and made him immortal. They thought they would live happily forever. But after a century, something happened. Immortality was too much for the man's feeble mind. He lost his connection with the reality. In the end, Odin had to kill him. Every Asgardian knows this story. That is why we stay away from mortals. Thor might be living a fairy tale now, but a certain tragic end awaits him."

What could I say? He was right. "And let's not even get started with the fact that you will spend rest of your life in dungeon," I added.

He silently agreed.

I looked around. The room was a complete mess. "I think I should tidy up this place."


	9. Chapter 9

I decided to took my anger on the vacuum cleaner, pressing it as hard as I could on the floor full of little pieces of glass. I hoped the isolation spell The Other had casted was still effective. No sane person would do the cleaning at 3.00 AM.

I had never felt so embarrassed before. I had always scoffed at hopeless romantics and their cheesy love stories. Love was a lie people desperately wanted to believe. What I felt for Loki was completely a physical weakness. It was my body needed him, not me. I shouldn't have let him see this weakness. What was I thinking while pushing a 1000 year old demigod to confess his attraction?

"Don't you have a maid for the house chores like this?" Loki asked. He was silently sitting while I was cleaning up the entire room.

"Would you care to volunteer?"

"No."

Once I was done, I put away the vacuum cleaner and took a look at the window frame with no glass.

"We should invent a good excuse," Loki said.

"No, we are telling the truth this time."

He jumped. "Kate, no! If Thor discovers I was the one who let the enemy in, he will kill me this time. I cannot allow you to do this."

"Relax, I didn't mean we should tell all of it. Of course we will make some adjustments."

"What are you going to tell them?"

"That The Other attacked me in the middle of night, took my mom's necklace and you came to my help."

"That is all you can say. You can't let them know the things I have told you. If they realize I know something about it, it will raise some doubts."

"Actually, I can. Only, I will say it was my mom told me everything about the necklace, not you. It is believable. If we keep the truth, it might be too late by the time they discover it by themselves."

"Why do you want to help them, Kate? I thought you were proud to be selfish. Let the heroes save the world, not you. This is not your fight."

"If Mom is involved, it is my fight… Wait, what did you just say?" Something brilliant occurred to me.

"I said that let the heroes save the world."

I snapped my fingers. "Of course! Of course! Why didn't I think of it before? I am an idiot!"

I might be angry with him right now, but I there was no way I could miss a chance to save him from the prison.

"Think of what?"

"Loki, you will never go back to that cell."

He looked interested, yet skeptical. "Kate, if I run at this point, things will only get worse. Thanos will find me no matter where I hide. At least I am safe in that cell."

"Who said anything about running?"

"What is on your mind?"

I grinned mischievously, tapping my foot on the floor. "You will prove yourself a hero."

"No way."

"Why?"

"No one would buy such a cheap lie, not even Thor! What am I supposed to tell them? That I spent a few days on Midgard and somehow came to the conclusion that it is actually worth saving?"

"Just tell them you will help this one time for your personal vengeance from Thanos. Plausible. Tell them you weren't yourself during the Battle of New York. That nothing makes you happier than to ruin his evil plans."

Loki seemed convinced about the dramatic effect of this plot. But he knew it wouldn't be enough to get what he really wanted. "Then what? Will Odin allow a frost giant to sit on the throne just because he saved Midgard? What am I supposed to do when I am free? Witness Thor's idiotic rule? No, thanks."

"I don't think he will make such a bad king, but if he is still as stupid as you claimed, then I am sure you can come up with something in the next 4000 years. It will be even easier when you regain the trust of your family."

"Even you think he should be the king." He was hurt.

I put my hands on his shoulders. "You know I didn't mean that. But you should stop blaming everyone around you so blindly. Yes, Odin and Thor have made mistakes, like everyone else. Considering everything you told me about them, I say they love you and they regret their part in making you what you have become today. If you don't forgive them, you will never have a family again."

"I think it is time for you to know your place, Kate. I am not going to discuss family business with a mortal."

"What does my life span have to do with this? You always turn to this stupid excuse every time you can't oppose to my argument. Once you told me something your mother had told you. 'Knowledge is power'. So is family. You need a family for the power you desire."

He didn't argue.

"Come on, Loki. I can't see any reason why you should say no. If Thanos is defeated, you will get your revenge and your freedom, I will get my answers, Avengers will save the day. Everyone wins. What are the odds?"

"So, this is not about me at all. Of course." He smiled painfully as if he discovered a betrayal. "You want to use me to find your mother. You don't have to play this game to have me on your side, Kate."

"You know it is not the case. But if this is what you choose to believe, there is nothing I can do to change your mind. Now are you with me or not?"

He remained silent. I knew him well enough to take it as a yes.

"Go back to downstairs now. I will wake Dad up."

To my surprise, Loki did as I told without any objections. I went downstairs after a final check, to make sure there was nothing that might expose our little lie.

I knocked on Dad's door.

"Dad, Pepper, wake up, there is an emergency!"

Pepper opened the door. Her eyes were half closed. "Kate, what is happening?"

"The Other stole my mom's necklace and tried to kill me."

"I knew this was going to happen!" Dad was fully awake. Then I realized he didn't know who The Other was. He thought I meant Loki by "The Other".

"Dad, I am not talking about Loki. The Other is like… Thanos' sidekick. Actually, Loki was the one who saved my life."

The two looked at each other in disbelief. "Loki saved your life?"

"I will explain everything. Meet me downstairs."

I explained them everything about the necklace as we had agreed with Loki. He seemed to be pleased with my lying skills. Basically, I was telling the truth. I only changed the source of the information. This little alteration was not going to hurt anyone.

"We should contact with S.H.I.E.L.D.," Pepper said.

"Let me do the honors then, dear. Nothing makes me happier to wake Fury up in the middle of the night." Dad grinned and then instructed Jarvis to call Director Fury.

He picked up the phone the second time it rang. "Stark?" a serious voice asked. Does this guy ever sleep, I asked myself.

"Good night, Fury. Have you been sleeping?"

"Are you making prank calls now, Stark? Don't you have anything better to do?"

" I am afraid we have an emergency. This time it involves Kitty. Honey, please explain him."

"I thought you wanted to talk to him," I objected. I never liked Fury. I had a serious problem with authorities. I wondered how come hundreds of agents could volunteer to take orders from a guy like him. Who would want to act like a robot? I had asked Phil once, the only agent I liked, and he had only said he trusted the system.

"I just wanted to wake him up," Dad said.

"Good night, Director Fury. This is Kate Stark," I began and repeated what I had just told Dad.

"We will locate this portal and eliminate the danger before they get their hands on it, thanks," he said.

Great. The formal way of saying "Get the hell out of my way."

"Excuse me, Director, but you can't search for a particular cave in Siberia with GPS, or whatever you call it. Unless, you want to find in a few years."

"What is your point, Kate?"

"I know the area quite well. I can help you."

"I can't ask my agents to babysit a civilian in such a dangerous case."

"I can take care of myself. I want answers about my mom. You will either help me, or I'll go there by my own private jet."

"Damn it, fine! But I am not taking any responsibilities. I am sending my best response team to you. Meet them at the airport in an hour."

"Wait, wait, wait! We are talking about the end of the world, and you are sending a response team?" Dad objected.

"What do you want me to do?"

"What about Avengers?"

"The Avengers protocol won't be initiated until the world stops spinning. Your daughter can join us this one time, but you stay put and keep an eye on that lunatic alien in your house. Understood?"

Fury hung up. I wanted to facepalm myself. I was so concerned about persuading him to allow me to join his team that I completely forgot about Loki. Of course they wouldn't ask Loki to help them. I gave him an apologetic look. I had assured him I had a brilliant plan, now everything was falling apart. He couldn't be a hero sitting in the Stark Tower. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought this one detail.

"If Thanos is involved, we need to inform Thor," Loki finally spoke.

Dad looked at him. "I think we can defend our own planet, thanks."

"You can't defeat Thanos on your own! I know him better than any of you."

"Well, we defeated you, remember?"

"With Thor's help," he smirked.

"Actually, it was the Hulk."

Loki shook his head with frustration.

"Even if you are right, how can we reach him? Do you have your brother's number?"

He ignored Dad. "Kate, bring me a pot and something to light a fire."

I did as he said immediately to show others how much I trusted him. Normally, I wouldn't do anything until he said "please".

Loki put the large pot on the floor and started a fire in it. Pepper watched anxiously while he did his spell. Dad looked jealous. Magic was just another form of science in his eyes and he hated not to be able to comprehend it.

Suddenly, a full size hologram of an elegant lady appeared on the pot. Everything about her screamed "I am the most powerful woman in the universe". This had to be Frigga. I was shocked, because although I knew he was trying to reach someone, I thought it would be Thor himself.

"Hello, Mother," Loki said.

"Loki, how are you, son?" Frigga asked. She was even more compassionate than Loki had told me.

Loki explained everything to her and told her to inform Thor. Frigga agreed.

"I will talk to him immediately. He should be with you soon."

"I will see you when I come back home." Apparently, Loki decided to cut it short.

"Are you not going to introduce your new friend to me, Loki?" she asked.

Neither of us was expecting that. How could she possibly know about me? But Loki kept calm and asked me to come forward. Now I was probably seen by her.

"Hello, ma'am," I said.

Seriously? _Hello ma'am_? I hated myself.

Loki noticed my nervousness. "Kate, this is Frigga. My mother, the queen of Asgard. Mother, Kate Stark."

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Kate," she smiled.

I tried to smile back. "I am sorry, did you know about me?"

"Of course, child. I have been keeping an eye on Loki when he was in your world."

She knew everything, then. _Everything_. "Oh, I see. My apologies. It is an honor to meet you, Queen Frigga."

_My apologies_. _Honor to meet you_. What the hell girl, I asked myself.

"I only wanted to thank you for what you have done for my son," she winked. "You have been very good company for him."

"He has been very unexpectedly good company to me as well."

She smiled once again. "I hope I will officially meet you some day, child. Now if you excuse me, I should talk with Thor."

"Of course."

The hologram disappeared. Pepper and Dad were exchanging questioning looks, like I had just met my future mother-in-law. This couldn't get any more embarrassing.

Thor appeared on the rooftop deck ten minutes later. His first instinct was to check upon his brother. I was right about him. He loved Loki despite everything he had done. Maybe he knew they all had this coming after casting dark shadows upon him all those years.

Thor turned to me. "My mother said you will be coming with me."

"Not just her. I am coming, too," Dad said.

"But Fury…"

"Kitty, did you really think I would send you there alone?"

"Dad, you don't have a suit anymore. What good are you to me?"

"I am not all about the suit, dear."

"Dad, you might be a genius, but this is Siberia we are talking about. You can't survive for an hour in the wild."

"I can. Don't you believe me? When this is over, let's go camping for a weekend. Just you and me. I will show you my surviving skills."

He made me laugh. "Dad, are you really competing with me? I grew up in Siberia. New York is nothing compared to the life there. Have you ever seen a tiger? Or even a snake?"

He shrugged. "Yes."

I smiled. "Where?"

"In the Central Park Zoo."

"See? But come with us if you want. I know I can't stop you."

"I should come, too." Loki.

"Loki, no. I cannot let you distract these people. We already have enough problems in our hands," Thor told him.

Dad, Thor and Loki argued over this until Jarvis interrupted them.

"There is an incoming call for you, Miss Stark."

"For me? Who?"

"She says her name is Aysylu."

"What? Put her on immediately." Aysylu would never call me. Unless of course, there was something terribly wrong. Besides, Evenkis didn't carry cell phones. She had to go to the nearest town, which would take hours, if she wanted to give me a call.

"Katerina?" a nervous voice asked. Aysylu and being nervous? This couldn't be good.

"Aysylu? Where are you calling me from?"

"From the science facility."

"You broke the truce to call me? Hey, are the phone lines even working there?"

"I am glad they are."

There had to be an emergency. I knew it was somehow connected with the current situation. The Other hadn't wasted any time. We were talking in Russian, so nobody in the room could understand what was going on.

"Aysylu, can you speak in English? We have a situation here, but I think it is connected with yours. There are friends listening." I had taught her English,but I wasn't sure if she still remembered.

She started to speak slowly with an accent. "A stranger came to our settlement today. A woman. She enchanted our men. She turned them against us. We had no choice, we crossed the border and took refuge in the facility."

"A woman?" Loki asked. "What does she look like?"

"Red hair, beautiful, white skin. Do you know her?"

"Lorelei," the two brothers said.

"Who is Lorelei?" she asked.

"A very dangerous sorceress. She escaped from the dungeon sometime ago," Thor explained.

"Aysylu, we will be there in a few hours. Stay away from that woman. She is an alien and dangerous. Don't do anything stupid."

"Are you kidding me? I am going to put an arrow in her eye!"

"Why did you call me then if you are willing to get yourself killed?"

"I didn't call for help, Katerina. I called to inform you."

"About what?"

"This Lorelei… I think I saw your mother with her."


	10. Chapter 10

Thor could be the second strongest thing in this world after the Hulk, but he still had only two arms and he couldn't take all of us at the airport. So we decided to drive there like normal people. Dad and Thor got in his white Audi R8, while Loki chose to ride with me in my matte-black Lamborghini Aventador.

The elevator took us to the ground level from the basement garage and we took the fastest way to the airport. I wasn't a clumsy driver normally, but I hadn't driven for sometime; I couldn't give Loki the smoothest ride.

I sensed that there was something more than acquaintances between Loki and Lorelei, but I was too proud to ask him anything. Besides, I had more important things to worry about, like my mom being still alive and seen with this infamous sorceress. The first one was not really a problem, because I had always known she could be alive as her body was never found, but I wasn't sure what to think about the second.

"What does Lorelei want from my mom? Is she under some kind of spell right now?" I asked.

"Lorelei doesn't work like that. I think… BE CAREFUL!"

I was almost going to hit the car in front of us. I hit the brake just in time. The driver took out his head and cursed angrily. I lowered the window and cursed him back.

Loki was entertained by my rudeness, but he shook his head like he didn't approve it. "Such shameful words do not suit a proper young maiden like you."

"I never said I was proper."

"Well, Frigga would definitely disagree." He chuckled.

I could feel my face blushing in the deepest shade of red. I grinded my teeth with frustration.

"Don't fret, she liked you," Loki said, smirking. He was going to enjoy every minute of my embarrassment.

"Shut up before I rip off your tongue! Anyway, you were saying that Lorelei…?"

"Lorelei's power comes from her femininity. Her touch and voice enchants men, not women."

"Maybe she simply threatened my mom?"

"I don't think so. The whole situation is very unlikely of her. She sneaks into castles, palaces; enchants kings, princes, knights. Not a group of savages."

"First, my people are not savages!"

He laughed. "Your people?"

"Not by blood maybe, but I consider myself one of them."

"Fine. What was the second?"

Damn, I had just made a goof, but if I hesitated, it would only get worse. "Were you one of the princes she enchanted?" I tried to seem neutral, like it was a completely professional interest, but deep down, I didn't want to hear the answer.

"She never enchanted me."

Jealousy. _Fight this stupid feeling._

"How come did you never mention her?"

"What did I tell you about knowing your place? None of your business."

"It is my business, literally. I am your writer."

"I don't want hundreds of mortals to read about my private life. I am not one of your celebrity clowns."

I focused on the road ahead of me. I couldn't help but wondering what she looked like. Aysylu had said she was beautiful. Red hair. Red hair was associated with sexiness. I looked at my blonde hair in disappointment. Blonde was associated with dumbness. I had inherited the genetical advantage of the Slavic nations in terms of appearance, but would it be enough to compete with a goddess?

Why should you compete with her, I asked myself. I was being stupid again.

At the airport, we directly went to where the black, gigantic S.H.I.E.L.D. plane was waiting. A familiar face greeted us. How many more people were going to come back from the dead tonight?

"Son of Coul?" Thor asked in horror. "What kind of dark magic is this?"

Dad was still in shock, like me. "It is time you learn," Phil smiled but his expression changed when he saw Loki in the car. "It appears S.H.I.E.L.D. has a few tricks of its own."

Loki smirked shamelessly. I poked him with my elbow.

"Can you at least _pretend_ to show some respect?" I asked.

"Why should I?"

"You killed this guy!"

"Maybe I should apologize to him with tears in my eyes, since it will make my sudden metamorphosis even more conceivable."

"I am not saying you should start acting like a rainbow fairy. But maybe, just maybe, you can remain neutral, you know."

"Why is everyone so fond of this particular man?"

"Phil is cool."

"He didn't try to shoot you in the chest with a huge weapon."

"Well, because I didn't bring an army of freaks from the space."

We left the car and climbed the stairs to the plane.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Phil asked. "If so, it is not funny at all."

"Have you been informed on the current situation?" Thor asked.

"Another Asgardian on the loose? Yes, we know."

"Then you also know we are dealing with sorcery here. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire."

"I can't see any reason why he wouldn't decide to help another sorcerer instead of us."

"But I see," Thor said, looking at me.

Phil smiled, which meant we would soon have a very long conversation.

"Ehm… What are you now, Phil? Zombie or vampire?" Dad asked.

"I would rather not talk about it. It wasn't exactly the most pleasant experience of my life," he gave Loki an accusing look.

"Not many people I killed have managed to come back, I am impressed," Loki said, making everyone hate him once again.

Phil introduced us to rest of his team. Agent Ward, May, Fitz, Simmons and Skye. I only liked the last three, but none of them showed any interest in me. Fitz-Simmons were starstruck when they saw Dad and Skye struggled so hard to not leap into Thor's arms. As for Loki, they all looked like they wanted to throw him out of the plane.

"Sir, are you sure this is a good idea?" Ward whispered to Phil.

"I know," he nodded. "Of course we won't let him walk around freely on the bus. You and Thor take him to the cage."

"Cage?" I snapped. "He is here to help us, you can't treat him like an animal!"

"Calm down, Kate. The cage is actually a rather comfortable interrogation room. Of course, we can't offer the luxuries of the Stark Tower but…"

"I wasn't expecting anything less than a cage, Kate," Loki interrupted him. "Let us go." He looked surrendered, as if he tried to tell me "I told you this was a bad plan." He extended his arms like he awaited to be cuffed, but Thor just grabbed his shoulder and dragged him.

"Let's see what you guys have," Dad said to Fitz-Simmons and they headed to the lab. No wonder they were going to have a good time with their high-tech toys.

Apparently, May was the pilot. "Sir, we will take off in ten minutes," she told Phil.

He nodded, then turned to me. "Can I talk to you for a second in private?"

We went to his office. He shut the door and sat at his desk. I sat on another chair.

"I am not going to help Loki kill you all, if this is what you want to know," I chuckled.

"I know you won't, Kate. If your father weren't on that plane with us, I would lock you in the interrogation room with him, since you made it clear that you don't share the same moral values with us in the past."

"If it is going to make you feel more comfortable, you still can," I shrugged. "Dad won't sue you."

"No, it is not that… I know I can trust you when Stark is here with us. Because you never betray your family."

"What can I say? Family above all."

"That brings us to our next issue, but I don't know how to say it. It is about… your mother."

"Just say it, Phil." I tried to look calm but my heart started to beat rapidly. What could he possibly tell me about my mom? Was she an agent as well?

"There is no easier way to break it to you, so…" He took out a file from his drawer. "This will tell you everything you wish to know. I assume you will need a quite place to digest what is in it. You may stay here," he said and left.

"It is good to have you back, Phil," I told him before he shut the door.

I looked at the cover of the file.

_Adelina K._

I wondered what the K stood for. I had always assumed she gave me her last name, Antonova, but I had never seen her ID or anything. Then I remembered my dad's full name; Anthony. She used the Russian variation of his name to give me a new patronymic. That made sense. Of course, if I was the bearer of an ancient key, she didn't want me to be tracked.

But my hopes fizzled out when I opened the file. I realized she had lied to me all her life. It appeared she was a mole at that science institute, working for some kind of cult who believed the world population should significantly be reduced. They were going to revive a fatal virus that came from space in 1908, found frozen in Tunguska area, but first the cult should find a way to protect its members from the plague. The Valley Men, who had incredible regeneration abilities had started to be hunt down and used as lab rats. Unfortunately, the Valley Men didn't like the idea of being captured by human beings. They attacked the institute to save their people. 25 years ago, the cult was reanimated and that was when my mother joined them. As their main purpose was to reduce human population, the members were not permitted to have children. When she gave birth to me, she was cast out.

I could have handled all of these, if I hadn't read her statement in the last page of the file:

_I made a mistake. I should have an abortion when I found out I was pregnant, but I couldn't. I was lost in Siberian wilderness. Forcing a miscarriage by myself could be deadly when I was alone in the wild. I apologize once again for my selfishness. I was going to abandon the offspring to die in the snow, if the natives hadn't discovered me while I was delivering it. I couldn't risk compromising my identity. I couldn't risk letting them know that our cult had revived. But I assure you, I used this child for the interests of our purpose and I swear, in the name of the future we are trying to build, I will kill it by myself when the time comes._

I felt like my brain was going to explode. After I had come to America, all I could hold on was my faith in family. That was the reason why I had forgiven Dad no matter how badly he had messed up with me. I would always forgive him, because he was the only family I had. Now everything I believed was falling apart.

I read her statement once again, trying to believe my eyes. "Not if I kill you first, bitch," I murmured.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Loki's POV**_

I counted the hexagons of the interrogation room walls, laying on the provided this was the point of these geometrical shapes; to help the prisoners keep occupied. Because there was nothing else to do. They probably had surveillance devices here, thus I avoided any act of mischief. What could I possibly do anyway? I had told Kate this was a stupid plan. They would never, ever set me free no matter what I do, even if I turned into a _rainbow fairy_. I smiled when I realized my inner voice used the exact same phrase I learned from Kate. If I kept spending so much time with her, nobody would understand a word I spoke by the time I returned to Asgard. However, I was not going to return to Asgard. I knew everyone here thought I was here to seek an opportunity to escape and they were right. I was going to escape, but I was going to do it in a very clandestine way. They would never stop looking for me if they knew I was alive, but somehow, if I could make them believe I was dead… Now that was another case. That would eliminate the threats both from Asgard and Thanos. The real question was, how? An illusion could work, but certainly my stupid brother would take my body back to Asgard and the trick would be revealed. I had to find a way to force them to leave the corpse where it was, or make them believe it was lost. Damn, this still didn't answer the question, how? Apparently I would have to improvise. I didn't like the idea of lying to Kate along with the rest of them, but considering how stubborn she was, she would never stop trying to reach me and would eventually give me away. Besides, she had no place in my future.

I heard the door open. It was Thor. He put his precious Mjolnir down, but didn't sit.

"You never used to visit me in the dungeon, brother. Midgard makes you sentimental."

"That makes two of us."

I sat up and looked at him in the eye. "What are you trying to imply?"

Thor smiled. "The Stark girl."

I laughed at his naïve thoughts. Did he really think a few weeks—no matter how good they were—could erease the agony of centuries? Two days of banishment to Midgard might have changed him, but that would never work on me.

"Don't pretend like you don't care about her, Loki. Caring about someone is so unusual for you that it is impossible not to notice when it occurs."

"How desperate you are for my redemption, that you rely on a mortal for it. And Kate isn't exactly a figure of righteousness, so brother… Don't. Just, don't."

"Well, a figure of righteousness wouldn't catch your attention. At least not in a good way."

I smirked. "You have finally remembered who I really am."

"Considering your choice of women…"

Ah, so this wasn't about Kate. It was about Lorelei.

"I need to know you will do the right thing when the time comes."

"Do you really think I still have feelings for that whore? Believe me, Thor, nothing makes me happier than to kill her with my bare hands, especially if she works for that mad Titan."

"What happened with Lorelei should have taught you to choose your allies carefully. I hope Thanos did."

For a second, I found myself back in that torture chamber. When I came back to the reality, the interrogation room seemed like the most pleasant place in the universe.

"One more thing, Loki. Once we are done here, I will take you back to Asgard."

I dreaded, but managed not to show it. Did he know I was the one who helped Thanos to kidnap me?

"Have you finally found the weakness in the defenses?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. He seemed so confident. "I think all we need is a new Destroyer, and guards to watch the secret paths."

"Do you know where they are?"

"You will tell us, and you won't be in danger anymore."

Idiot. I was never going back to that cell and I would never tell him the location of the secret paths. "Finally, you are learning to use your brain, brother." A little flattering would always blind that fool.

"What about the Tesseract?" I asked.

"It is lost to us for the second time in history. We all know how the first one ended. The only way we get it back is to defeat Thanos. That is why you are here. Will you really help us?"

He thought everyone was a battle-craving buffoon like him. The reason why he shouldn't be king was still there with him. "Do you really think Thanos is waiting for us with open arms where we are about to land? He is a puppet master, not a warrior. And smart enough not to come anywhere near the Yggdrasil."

"If he wants the Earth, he has to come, eventually."

There was no point in arguing with him. He was never going to understand.

"You know him better than anyone else here. What are his weaknesses? Or motives?"

"Death."

"Come on Loki, I am serious."

"I was serious. He wishes to please Mistress Death herself. He does anything to offer her as many souls as possible."

"That sounds sick."

"Not everyone is as sweet as your dear mortals, brother. Welcome to the reality."

I was teasing. There was nothing sweet or innocent about mortals. They desired violence, death, war and the power that comes with those more than any other species I had ever known. Their greed was incomparable. Lucky for the rest of the universe, they were too weak to spread their plague to other realms.

Thor asked me if there was anything else he should know. I said no and he left me alone. The younger brother deep inside me pitied him. He was trying to save an entire race to save the woman he loved, but that was impossible. I thought about Kate. She was a human who had given up her hopes on her own kind a long time ago. She had adapted to the madness going around her by resenting and making fun of it at the same time. This was what attracted me to her. I remembered the opening sentence of my biography. We had brainstormed for the perfect opening line for a long time, and she had come up with this one. To be honest, I revered it.

_Heroes can save the society from a villain, but only a villain can save the society from itself._

I wondered how people, especially Avengers, would chastise her when they read this. Of course, if it got published at all. Kate told me that the fastest way to become a popular author was to write a modern fairy tale. Truth did not sell, the best story did. She was right. Romance was the main sentiment that drove people. This was not only true for Midgardians, but for all men. At least, most men. The worst part was, they were proud of this weakness for women. Thor had changed because of a woman, Thanos had turned into an evil mastermind by his love for Mistress Death… No matter how strong they were, their feelings would always blind and weaken them and they considered it as a good thing. And they thought I wasn't "man enough" for not sharing their weakness. No, I was born with it like they were, but I refused to be a slave to it. Training my mind had taken a few centuries, but the results were worth it. Now I was the only one who shouldn't be afraid of Lorelei's enchantment. Unfortunately, I had learned my lesson the hard way. I closed my eyes and thought about the most embarrassing memory of my life.

_**600 Years Ago...**_

"Prince Loki, the All-Father demands your presence in the throne room," the sentry said.

This was it. This was the day when Father would announce his heir, in other words, his favorite. I had so many questions in my head. The first one was, why did he bother formalities? Everyone knew the future king of Asgard was going to be Thor. It had never been spoken out loud by anyone, yet every citizen knew it.

I left my chambers and other questions filled my head as I passed the long aisles. What did I do wrong? What kind of mistake could have made Father so blind to me, to his younger son? There were two things Odin always ignored in the family: Thor's failures and my achievements.

I found my brother in front of the golden gates of the throne room, waiting for me. He wanted to do everything with me all the time, but only to find something to humiliate me when talking about it later. Even if I saved his life, he could still find something with me to ridicule. Unfortunately, he was going to be alone when he ascended to the throne. If I wasn't concerned about the good of Asgard, I would say I couldn't wait to see how he would ruin everything.

"Are you ready, brother?" he asked.

"You should be the one who is ready. This is your day," I said, trying to hide the jealousy in my voice.

He chuckled and his eyes shone with expectation. "Father hasn't announced his decision yet."

This was nothing but a harsh mocking.

We nodded and the guards opened the doors. Father was sitting on his throne and Mother was standing beside him proudly. Her pride didn't bother me, because somehow I knew she would still be equally proud if the heir was to be me.

We stood before our parents. Father looked at us both, then started talking.

"Once I told you only one could ascend to the throne, but both of you were born to be king. I still think the same. However, you have grown up, and with that, come more responsibilities. My responsibility, as the kind of Asgard, is to prioritize maintaining the peace in the Nine Realms…"

When was this going to end? I was supposed to meet Lorelei. A small, naïve part in me imagined myself telling her I was chosen to be Odin's heir. I imagined proposing her to be my queen. This was a dream that would never come true. The only thing Lorelei did today would be to console me.

"… You must remember that I made the decision not as your father, but the All-Father. This will shape the future of Asgard along with the Nine Realms, but everything will remain the same in our family."

_No, nothing will remain the same in our family._

"Thor Odinson, I, Odin All-Father hereby proclaim you as my heir."

Finally, it was over. Thor promised to make Father proud and I congratulated him briefly. Then everyone moved on. Thor said he was going to celebrate this day with the Warriors Three and Lady Sif and offered me to join. He said they would probably hunt a few Bilgesnipes, spar each other for sport and then throw a feast.

No. Not today. I wasn't in the mood to put up with any of them. I needed a company I could enjoy, and she was waiting for me. I headed to the woods behind the royal garden. It was a place where nobody could disturb us. Our relationship was no secret, but unlike Fandral, I was a private person. I resented the idea of showing off the woman I loved like she was a prize. Lorelei was sitting under a tree, scanning the horizon. She stood up when she saw me and examined my face.

She knew what it was like to be ignored despite all your efforts to prove yourself. I was living under the shadow of Thor, and she was living under her elder sister Amora's.

"It is Thor, isn't it?" she asked.

I nodded.

She sighed thoughtfully and stroked my cheek. "I am sorry," she said but then remained silent.

This was very unlikely of her, I had expected a few more words than that. But I pushed my selfish feelings away. Maybe she wasn't having a good day either. I sat on the ground, leaned on a tree and pulled Lorelei closer. I gave her a long, comforting kiss, then I encouraged her to tell me what was wrong. She placed her head on my lap and closed her eyes.

"Nothing," she said. "Nothing, except I had one chance to prove to Amora I could be better than her, and it just slipped away from my fingers. It was a lost cause anyway, but still…"

I wanted to cheer her up. "Have you developed a passion for riddles lately?" I laughed. I didn't understand a word she said. I knew Amora always blamed her for being selfish and lazy. She thought Lorelei didn't put enough effort to studying magic. It was true that she wasn't as good as me or Amora at elemental magic, ancient knowledge and illusion, however that was not because she lacked talent, but interest. She had chosen to focus on the art of seduction. I wasn't earger to see her seduce any other men, but I couldn't also deny the fact that one day it could be useful. Besides, trying to control her would only backfire.

She turned to me and gave me one of her sweetest smiles. "What?" I asked while stroking her hair.

"What would you do, if we got separated one day? Would you find another woman to forget me?"

"Well, in the first place, I wouldn't let anything snatch you from me."

"Loki, you cannot control everything, you know that. Anyway, would you choose another woman over me?"

She was extremely jealous for some reason; she had no tolerance for the idea that sharing her men with other women. She had literally tormented the girls I had been with before, even though I kept assuring her they were insignificant for me. Being with them was a mistake anyway. All I had ever wanted to be equals with Fandral and Thor at least at this, but I had only ended up disgusting intimacy. I was too sentimental to be animals like them.

"Never. I would wait for you, even if it means I would have to wait for an eternity. But why do you ask? Is there something wrong? Is somebody threatening you?"

"No, no… You know, these are dangerous times. You cannot know what will happen tomorrow."

"Then let us make the best of today," I whispered and she accepted my invite. We started to make out to forget everything that bothered us.

We talked about unimportant things, hour passed and I realized the sun was setting. I didn't want to let her go today. It was such a dark, doomed day and we needed each other. But I didn't want my family to think I was discontented by Father's choice of heir, so I should join them with dinner at least. Then I could visit Lorelei in her house and spend the night there. Nobody would know. I usually informed her before, but tonight I was going to surprise her. She loved surprises. How pathetic was that we had to rely on such insignificant things to oppress our agony.

"I have to go," I said. "It is going to be a long evening."

"Hasn't Thor finished celebrating his triumph by now?"

I chuckled. "Knowing my brother, he will be in the mood of celebration at least for a month, or until he finds himself a new battle."

We kissed one more time and left for our homes. I managed to arrive at the dining hall before Father. Thor greeted me cheerfully and immediately started to tell me how much I missed. Frigga looked at him proudly, but when she turned her gaze upon me, all I saw was concern.

Odin arrived at the hall and servants served the meal. That evening, Father talked about a new possibility of war with Nornheim. Some reavers were causing trouble. Thor seemed excited.

"It is going to be a glorious battle, Father, I assure you. I will remind them of our power!"

I sighed silently. Obviously he was going to attack the first group of enemies he saw without thinking and drag his friends with him. Then I would have to conceal them with smoke to save their lives. They would be grateful to me, but would call me "The Trickster" and laugh later, when the threat was no more. What was glorious about that?

My silence was noticed by Mother. After the dinner, I prepared to leave for Lorelei's house, but Frigga stopped me. She asked me to come to the chamber where she taught me magic.

"You have been so quite since your father announced his heir. Are you not pleased with his decision?"

"I am," I said plainly. "Besides, who am I to question the All-Father's decisions?"

She smiled and stroked my arm. "You are our son, Loki."

"Still, I wish he would tell me what makes Thor better than me."

She focused on something in distance, probably nothing. She was just thinking, as if she wanted to tell me something, but she was not allowed to. "Where have you been all day?" she asked instead.

"I was with Lorelei." Her look was disapproving. "You do not like her, Mother, do you?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Why? Because her sister Amora is a better alternative to her?" I asked. I didn't even bother trying to hide the implication in my tone.

"No, Loki, I trust neither of them actually."

"Lorelei means everything to me. If I am to marry a woman one day, that will be her."

"Don't rush to make such important decisions about your life, Loki. Lorelei is an extraordinarily beautiful woman, I admit it, but…"

"Beauty is not what I seek!" I yelled. "Do you think I am as shallow as Thor?"

Frigga smiled and remained calm. "I know you better than anyone else, Loki. And I know you are not shallow. You desperately looking for a mental connection, which is so rare that most people do not even dare to seek it. But I promise you, one day you will find it. And when you do, do not let her go no matter what happens."

"I have already found her," I objected and left.

I cloaked myself invisible, and sneaked into Lorelei's house. She was in her bed chambers, packing. Was she going on a journey I had no idea about? I lifted the illusion and she saw my reflection in her mirror. She jumped, startled.

I hugged her. "Don't worry, my love. It is just me."

But she seemed uncomfortable.

"Are you going somewhere?"

For the first time, I saw her expression closed. I had no idea what she was thinking. "I have decided to leave Asgard."

Leaving Asgard? She had never mentioned this before. "When? And why?"

She looked troubled, or at least pretending to be troubled. "I think it is time to try my luck in a different world. Asgard already has a queen."

What was this supposed to mean? "Do you wish to be a queen? Is that why you were with me all this time?"

She laughed. "Poor Loki, you are so childish."

"But you know I was never going to be chosen! You should have courted with Thor instead!"

"Oh, how I wish... But Amora got his attention before I could. You were the only prince left available. I thought it was worth giving a try."

So, this was the main cause of the rivalry between the two sisters. To be the next queen. I had never hit a woman in my life before, I was taught to treat them properly, but I really wanted to slap her with all the strength I had. I clenched my fists to restrain myself.

"Besides, you were an easier target than your brother. Just a little 'I understand what you are going through' speech and you followed me around like a dog." She shook his head laughing, remembering how she had fooled me for years.

We could have done it. We could have made each other happy. We could find peace in each other's arms, offered sanctuary from the cruelty surrounding the rest of the world. But she had already chosen a different path.

She left before I could find my voice back. I collapsed on the floor and promised myself this would never happen to me again.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Kate's POV**_

After thinking of the best way to kill the monster who gave birth to me for hours, I found myself an empty room and changed my clothes for more suitable ones for the Siberian wilderness. Thankfully it was spring; there was no need to wear heavy coats or boots that would restrain me from moving comfortably. I wore a tough but flexible pair of jeans, hiking shoes, a black, plain t-shirt and a leather jacket. I tied up shoulder length blonde hair into a tight bun and I was ready to go and face a certain liar for having lied about Adelina before.

I was so grateful to Happy for training me. Well, it was actually Dad's idea. When my fake suicides failed to convince Dad to drop me out of the boarding school, I had tried a different approach. One day I'd had enough, punched a couple of bullies and teachers—including the headmaster—and a security guard. I had finally managed to get expelled, however, I had broken my own hand in the way. Finally convinced I was never going to be able to blend in, he had agreed on homeschooling. He had also decided that I should learn how to punch properly and control my anger. Happy eagerly had taken it as his personal responsibility. Homeschooling, no social life and biggest fortune a person could have in this world created an strange combo, but also provided me with the opportunity to pursue any interest. So, I had chosen to socialize with fictional characters in the books instead of real people and handle the stress with the help of physical training. This was nothing compared to the training S.H.I.E.L.D. agents got; still, I was completely able to take care of myself in dire situations. The Other was almost going to kill me last night, but that didn't count. I was just a mortal, it wasn't a fair fight. Besides, I had saved Loki's life. I was proud of myself for not letting him to take all the credit. Too bad I hid this fact from others to present him as a hero. But we both knew the truth, and that was enough.

"Jarvis, is the interrogation room secure?" I asked to my phone.

"Yes, Miss Stark."

I headed to the cage. The room was probably full of cameras and microphones, so I asked Jarvis to hack into the system and play a particular loop over and over again until I was done in there. If anyone attempted to watch the monitors, they would only see Loki sitting all alone.

Jarvis opened the locked door for me. Loki was sitting in the bed, throwing something tiny in the air, then catching it. The buckle of his belt. He stopped when he saw me.

"Kate," he smiled. "How was your trip so far?"

I closed the door behind me. "Not good. I just found out my mother was a crazier bitch than I am."

"Hmm."

"But I guess you already know that."

He looked around, gesturing me it wasn't safe to have this conversation here.

"It is safe to talk. Thanks to Jarvis," I explained. I crossed my arms. "Why did you lie to me?"

"Now that you know who she is, Kate, what are you planning to do?"

"I am going to kill her. I mean, literally. The world needs to be sterilized from such a horrible creature."

He laughed. "Believe me, there is no shortage of horrible creatures in this world."

"Yeah, tell me about it," I said but I wasn't going to let him distract me. "Why are you protecting her? You told me she died as a hero trying to save mankind. What is your endgame, Loki?"

He stood up and approached to me. "There is no endgame, Kate! I was trying to protect you because I knew this would be your reaction. Killing her won't help you. You will be branded as a murderer for nothing."

"Is that what happened with Laufey? Did killing him not help you?"

"No."

"What helps, then?"

"Nothing."

"If you don't tell me what is in your mind, I can't help you."

"I am returning to Asgard," he said suddenly.

"What?"

"Thor said he was going to take me back when this is over. So, we can either spend our last hours fighting over petty things, or have a more fruitful conversation."

I tried to hide my frustration behind a smile. He was smiling too, but I was sure it was the same fake smile with mine.

"I don't understand," I started to pace up and down. I always did that while planning something, it helped me to think better. "Tonight I just told everyone that you saved my life, none of them stopped to think that there is something unusual about it. I mean, you and saving a mortal's life… They should have gone all cheering and shouting 'Yay, Loki is redeemed!'"

He cocked an eyebrow.

"OK, maybe I am exaggerating, but still… I didn't get the half of the reaction I expected." I puffed up my cheeks and released a deep breath.

"I told you this was a bad plan. People do not care about you, Kate. Not at all. I can save your life a thousand times, it would make no difference. Because you are always like 'Hey, I am Kate Stark and I am the most selfish person alive!' I am sure you would be their first choice if they had to throw someone out of this flying boat to save everyone else."

"I don't do that!" I snapped. But maybe he was right. "Do I… do that?"

"Yes, you do! You must learn to be more subtle, Kate."

"But what about my dad? Does he not care about me either?"

"No. He is only acting out of guilt. Typical mortal sentimentality. Once you told me he didn't want you as your daughter in the first place. What could have changed in such a short time?"

"Wait, wait, wait… Is this your final move before leaving Earth? To turn me against him? Is this your updated revenge plan? If so, it is not going to work, Loki. I put family above everything."

"And look where it has brought you. You are planning to commit matricide."

"So unfortunate we can't choose our parents. It is not my fault that Adelina came out to be a terrorist."

"I am not planning any revenge by using you, Kate. I gave up on my hopes of manipulating you a long time ago. You are too clever for that."

"And now you think flattering will make me let my guard down."

"See? Clever I said."

"Nice try, Loki. Dealing with only Thor for all those years has made you rusty. You should practice on more challenging targets."

He changed the subject. "There are more important things you should worry about than me or your mother."

"What could be more important than killing her?"

"Lorelei," he said. Even the name seemed to cause him pain. "She will come for you, Kate."

"Well, what can I say? All my life, I was invisible, people didn't even know I existed, now everyone is lining up to kill me. I am honored."

"This is serious."

I sat on the bed and gestured him to join. "Why don't you start from the beginning?"

He sat. "I don't wish people to know how stupid I once was. Don't add this to my biography."

"This isn't about the freaking book, Loki. I am asking you to talk to me as your friend."

"Very well," he started and told me how Lorelei screwed him over in the past, on the day Odin announced his heir. I knew how many times Loki had been broken, but this one was by far the worst. No wonder he was so obsessed with the throne. When he finished, I didn't know what to say. All I could do was to stroke his arm. I was starting to get sick of hearing stories in which Loki ended up more and more broken .

"I am so sorry," I finally said.

"She got what she deserved. She tried to build armies in different realms, including Earth. Thor, the Warriors Three, Lady Sif and I hunt her down and brought her back to Asgard. It was probably the only battle I joined with enthusiasm. She had been rotting in the dungeon for 600 years, until she escaped."

"Well, 600 years in a cell is something at least."

"She is dangerous, Kate. She will be seeking revenge, especially from me. And she is jealous. She will probably go insane if she thinks I chose you over her."

I would definitely need a _Loki is not my boyfriend_ t-shirt. "But you said she had no feelings for you. Why is she jealous?"

"It is not about her feelings, but her ego. She wants to see all men worship her, kneel before her."

"You Asgardians have a serious obsession with kneeling."

He was too concerned to laugh at my implication."Just imagine what a woman like her will do if the next one I choose to love is a mortal."

"But you didn't… choose to love me, right?" I asked anxiously. This conversation was going somewhere really awkward.

"No, no, no, definitely not," he corrected me with haste. "I am just telling you what she probably assumes."

"Maybe you should tell her what a terrible choice I am as well," I said. I didn't want him to confess his feelings or anything, but his reaction was offensive. "At least my life would be saved."

He understood what he did. "I didn't say you were a bad choice, Kate. In fact, you have no idea how often I wish you were born an Asgardian. How different things could have been if I had known you not for a few weeks, but for my whole life…"

The door opened abruptly. It was Thor, looking at us, but he was rather pleased than surprised. Only then, I realized we were holding hands. I immediately pulled mine back as if Loki was infected with a deadly plague. To make it worse, I wiped them on my jeans.

Luckily, he didn't ask anything. He just said "Coulson told me to bring you, Loki. And Kate, your father is looking for you."

I stood up, but Loki stopped me. "Brother, can you give us a moment?"

Thor nodded.

_Oh, please don't kiss me._

"What?" I whispered as if someone was eavesdropping.

"When she comes, you must be able to protect yourself," he said.

"For that, I need superhuman strength, which I clearly do not have."

"Do you remember the berserker staffs I told you about?"

I remembered the berserker staffs. Loki was so desperate for Odin's acceptance in his youth that he found a way to combine magic with battle and came up with the idea of a magical staff that would turn an ordinary person into a fierce warrior. The staffs took their powers from the rage inside of the bearers. Unfortunately the result was a bust. Most of the volunteers lost their control and became unstoppable fighting machines. Odin had to pull them back by force. However, there was a minority who choose to live the rest of their lives peacefully.

"Loki, you can't give me a berserker staff. They won't allow me to carry it."

"I am not going to give you a staff." He pulled out a silver dagger from his armor.

"This is your dagger."

"While sitting here, I enchanted it with the same spell. Keep it hidden, only use it if you have to. Otherwise, don't touch the steel."

"If I touch it, for how long will I be a raging bitch?"

"A couple of decades."

I wasn't sure what to do.

"Kate, I am not going to lie. If you take this, rage, hatred and ferocity will consume you for the rest of your life. But you will have the power you need to protect yourself against Lorelei."

"Does it have any effects on the lifespan?"

"No. Not even on your healing speed. If you get hurt, you will still recover at a human speed. Or not recover at all. I only hope to kill Lorelei myself, so that you will never have to use this. But if Thor takes me back before then, I can't leave you here with no protection.

I extended my arm to take it. "I survived the Extremis," I said. "I am pretty sure I can survive this as well."

"This is nothing like your pathetic mortal inventions."

"What will it do to me exactly?"

"It will remind you every memory that broke your heart in the past, give you every reason to be angry and turn that rage into strength."

I grabbed the dagger. "Sounds like it has nothing new to offer me, except the power."

"Don't touch the silver handle. Only hold on the scabbard."

I nodded and placed it in the pocket inside my jacket.

"Let's go before anyone gets suspicious," I said.

* * *

**A/N: The berserker staff was mentioned in an episode of_ Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. _It was not originally connected to Loki, though. That part is just my addition.**


	13. Chapter 13

Thor was waiting for us outside.

"They say we will be landing half an hour. Coulson wishes to talk with all of us before we do."

We went down to the lab, as we got closer, I recognized the sound of AC/DC. Dad, Fitz-Simmons and Skye were dancing on the counters. I laughed. Dad could beguile anyone.

"Party in the lab?" I asked when we entered from the glass doors.

"Goldie Locks, Kitty! Join us," he answered.

Loki covered his ears. "The Screeching Men are going to be the end of me," he complained.

"Did you just call AC/DC 'Screeching Men'?" Dad asked.

"Don't bother," I said. "He doesn't like any kind of Rock or Metal. I tried them all."

He jumped off the counter. "Really? You will burn in hell for this alone, big guy."

"We should take a photo with Thor!" Skye snapped.

Fitz-Simmons agreed and Dad insisted he should be in the picture, too. They handed me the camera. Loki examined them silently from a corner in disgust.

"Smile," I said and pressed the shutter button.

The three agents grabbed the camera and checked out the shot.

"We should put this on Facebook. How many likes do you think will we get?" Simmons asked.

"At least 500 I say," Fitz predicted.

"What is this Facebook everyone talks about? Darcy took hundreds of pictures of me and said they would all go to Facebook ."

Dad laughed. "The only thing that can kill Captain, if you ask me."

Thor grabbed his hammer as if he sensed a threat. "What?"

Loki silently laughed at his ignorance.

"Seriously, Dad? He is already devastated to see how corrupt this world has become and you showed him Facebook? Are you trying to depress him to death?"

"Actually he likes the Internet. Come on, Kitty, even the old man admits it is useful!"

"I never said it is not useful. It just helps people to unleash the idiocy beast sleeping inside them," I elaborated.

Loki interrupted me to give a sarcastic explanation about social media. "Don't fret, brother. Facebook is just a place for mortals to show how marvelous their lives are. You and Odin definitely need an account."

"How do you know about Facebook? Kitty, did you introduce him to Facebook, too?" Dad asked me.

I shrugged.

"But you don't even use it."

He was right. Even if I did, I didn't have friends to add. "Not with my real identity."

He rolled his eyes. "Honey, please don't tell me you are a troll!"

"You are the one who said everyone needs a hobby."

"I don't know what you are talking about, but you should be grateful that your daughter is not a real troll," Thor consoled him. "They are terribly nasty creatures."

I had a few fake accounts I had taken to entertain myself on social media platforms. The internet was full of idiots who would take the bait easily and they were fun to mess with. Loki and I had a lot of fun playing with them, actually. It might be cruel, but frankly, I didn't feel guilty for destroying the hopes of a few horny perverts for getting laid with a hot chick, or infuriate close-minded, hardcore people who believed they could save the world by sharing or liking posts.

Coulson arrived with May and Ward. "Do I really have to remind you that we haven't come all the way to have a picnic?" He turned off the music.

"We are sorry, sir," they all apologized, except Dad, of course.

"Did you run a search for Adelina?" Ward asked.

"Yes. We checked every surveillance device in the towns nearby, but there is nothing so far. I think they are still in the wilderness," Fitz said.

"For eight hours?"

Loki facepalmed himself.

"If you have something to say, we would love to hear it," Ward scolded him.

Loki gave him a death glare in return. I wondered how long it would take before they attempted to slit each other's throat. Loki wasn't very tolerant of other human beings. "If Thanos helps them, they have access to the Tesseract, if they have access to the Tesseract, they can travel to anywhere, even to another realm before you morons know it," he explained.

"Is there a way to track the Tesseract?"

"The scepter could help, I suppose your organization has its possession," he smirked.

"Do you really think we will let you lay a hand on that staff?"

Coulson interrupted their fight. "Enough! What about Lorelei? Can we track her?" he asked Thor. He said he couldn't.

"Sir, we cannot track someone with no visual image on the database," Simmons said.

Loki rejoined the conversation. "So, all you need is to see her?" He looked at Thor.

"Loki…" Thor groaned, but he had already turned into a red-haired, gorgeous woman. They were trying to hide it, but everyone was amazed.

"Now you should take a picture, I assume," Loki said.

Fitz quickly took a picture and started the scan. "We will know it when she is caught on any camera online."

"We can't wait for them to appear. Locating the portal is the priority, anyway," Phil said.

"Thanks for your help brother, now give me my true form back," Thor reminded Loki.

But Loki had something else in mind. Thor became himself once again, but in a wedding dress instead of in his armor.

People bit their lips not to laugh.

"LOKI!"

"Hmm brother, you look ravishing..."

"Enough!"

"…Now I see why Midgardians imagine you in a wedding gown."

"Why would I wear a wedding gown?"

"According to their myths, you disguise as a bride to get your stolen hammer back from the Frost Giants."

Thor turned to us. "Is that true?"

No one had an answer. "Seriously, nobody has read any Norse mythology here? Not even checked out Wikipedia? Why do you guys even learn how to read in the first place?" I rolled my eyes. "And yes, there is such story about you."

"Hmm. What do they say about _you_, brother?"

Loki sulked and snapped his fingers. Thor got his armor back.

Thor looked at me for an answer. "Thanks, I am too young to die," I said.

May checked an indicator. "We will be landing soon, everyone buckle up!"

We left the lab and headed to the seats on the main deck. I wondered how it was going to be like without a tarmac, but the landing was smooth. Everyone grabbed their stuff, Dad had a bright red case in his hand. I remembered him taking a backpack before we left the tower, but I thought it was just usual supplies. At least, as usual as he could have.

"What is that?" I asked.

He smiled. "Missed the hot rod red, everyone?" The case expanded as he stepped onto it and wrapped his body, making a mechanical sound. This was something I hadn't seen for some time.

"You had a suit all this time?" I asked. "I am tired of being surrounded by liars!"

"Then you shouldn't hang out with the biggest of them," he said under the Iron Man mask.

The gate opened and the Siberian landscape greeted us. It seemed to be a quiet, early morning on the surface. The plane had probably scared the animals around. I rushed outside before everyone else to feel the fresh air. I felt like I returned home. I had good memories here with kind people, with my best friend and with my loving mother. The last part was a lie maybe, but I was truly happy then. Haunted or not, home was home.

I quickly scanned the area to find something familiar. There was nothing. I had a feeling that this route was one of those Evenkis never used because it was "cursed".

"There is no sign of a facility according to satellites, sir," Fitz said.

"Because it doesn't exist officially," Phil said. "I am not surprised if those people found a way to block the satellites. That is why Kate is here."

"She seems as lost as the rest of us," Ward said. He was starting to get on my nerves.

"You Western people cannot even find the tip of your noses without GPS." I started to climb on a tree to find the scar left from the Tunguska explosion. It could work as my personal North Star.

"Are you a racist?" Ward asked. He was really looking for a fight. Maybe I would ask Loki to snap his neck.

"Racist? No. I hate everyone equally." I climbed down. "It is not too far. This way," I pointed at the beginning of a path. I had seen the scar. Now finding the institution was a piece of cake.

I led the way, but Loki quickly caught up with me. Hating the idea of leaving me alone with him, Dad appeared on my right side.

"Dad, trees won't bite you, you can take off the suit."

He didn't take all of it, but lifted the mask.

"So, Kitty, how are you taking with all these things with your mom?"

"Quite well."

"Are you not planning to kill her? Cut the eyes out, rip out the heart, drown her in a sewer?"

"Nope."

Loki chuckled. He always thought my relationship with Dad was entertaining.

"Then what are you going to do?"

"A good punch will work. And maybe a couple of harsh words. Then I will let the justice do its thing." That was probably the biggest lie I had ever told. No, prison would be too merciful for her. Her death had to come from the hand of the very daughter she wanted to kill. Now that would be justice.

Coulson and his team were behind us. We heard Simmons yelling. "We found something!"

We went where the agents stood. They had slightly strayed from the path because there saw something among the woods. It was just a giant rock. It couldn't be the portal. Still, they tried to find an entrance, but they found something else instead.

"Hey guys, check these out. Cave paintings."

"Do you know what is it?" they asked me.

Three Evenki warriors with their spears against two gigantic creatures that had bird-like feet. The Valley Men. And multiple rings one within the other above them, hinting that they had come from the space.

"A summary of the Tunguska event," I said."These are the Valley Men."

"Maybe they were just animals?" Fitz asked. Nerds always wanted a logical explanation for everything.

I rolled my eyes. "Look, I might not be able to memorize the multiplication table, so correct me if I am wrong, but let's do some math here. These are the humans," I measured them with my thumb and index finger, then I moved them to the drawing of a creature. "And these are the Valley Men. Now name me an animal which stands on its two feet and three times as big as an average human being."

He gulped. "I still hope these Valley Men are just ghost stories." Simmons quickly took some pictures of the drawings.

"Is there anything in this drawing that can tell us where the portal cave is?"

"No," I replied.

"Then how are we going to find it?"

"I hope the natives know its location."

"Coulson, even if we find it, it will probably be a dead-end. We should focus on the two fugitives," May said.

"No, Fury's orders were clear. The portal is our priority."

"Did he know that a sorceress was roaming your world while giving that order?" Thor asked.

"No, but we don't want more creatures to enter from a who-knows-where -it-leads portal to roam the Earth," Phil objected calmly. "But you are not taking orders from S.H.I.E.L.D. You are free to separate and track your own criminal."

"I consider you as a friend, Coulson. I will never leave my companions alone in the battlefield."

A rustle in the distance ended this argument. "What was that?" Skye asked. Everyone held their breaths. I had freaked them out with my warnings about the Valley Men, but I was just being honest. I had never seen one of those monsters, yet even their roars at night used to be enough to give me creeps. I remembered the adventurers who accidentally crossed the borders and came to the settlement for help with their guts ripped off.

I listened closely. "An animal running. Probably a deer." They were relieved, but the sound was getting closer, as if the animal was running from something. Whatever it was, it had to be more dangerous than us. Otherwise it would be running away from people, not towards them.

I was right. A deer appeared on the other side of the path and continued running towards us. But it was covered in something red. Blood. It was moulded very badly. Everyone, even Loki and Thor looked at it in shock. Suddenly, we heard something whistle in the air and an arrow stuck into its neck. It slowed down, passed by the rock and finally fell onto the ground. The arrow made me smile. I knew who shot the deer.

A girl with a brown complexion, pinched eyes and a braided black hair appeared from the shadows. She smiled back at me.

"Would you people like to scream a bit louder?," Aysylu said. "Because I think half of the forest hasn't heard you yet."


End file.
